


Discourse

by Bow_Woww



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Anxiety, Canon Compliant, Don't copy to another site, Getting Together, Humor, Identity Reveal, Lots of time skips, M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Social Media, Swearing, Tumblr, and also during canon, anon hate, fan blogs, hopefully, self depreciating comments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2019-10-23 02:49:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 35,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17675015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bow_Woww/pseuds/Bow_Woww
Summary: Yuuri anonymously runs a popular figure skating blog where he gushes about Victor and trashes his own skating. When a new blog starts reblogging his posts and claiming Yuuri's skating is superior to Russia's Living Legend, Yuuri finds himself in a classic internet standoff with a stranger.





	1. Your Text Here

**Author's Note:**

> I keep getting random ideas in my head that I swear will only take a few hours of my time and end up taking waaaaay longer. I really didn't want to split this into multiple chapters but I was going to end up with a 15k oneshot so I figured it was better to make it two chapters. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone on the Fairy & Elf Recs Discord for letting me use your names! Disclaimer that the views in this fic don't necessarily reflect the views of the people whose names were used. There will be more of you next chapter ;)
> 
> Also I apologize for some of the formatting issues in this fic. AO3 did not like all of the italicizing, bolding, and indenting that I did on my draft elsewhere so when I transferred it everything got wonky. I fixed most of it but there are still some stuff that's not right and I absolutely cannot figure out why, so sorry about that.

Yuuri could remember in vivid detail the first time he saw Victor Nikiforov skate on the small screen at Ice Castle Hasetsu. Even with the old television's staticky picture, Victor looked ethereal. The teen's long silver hair cascaded behind him as he floated effortlessly across the ice, his impossibly blue eyes bright with passion and pride. A flick of the hand here, a swish of the hips there, and Yuuri was mesmerized by the smooth movements of the skater's body. Dazzling lights reflected off crystals sewn into Victor's costume, catching Yuuri's eye with every twist, turn, and jump. 

Completely engrossed in Victor's skating, Yuuri barely registered his friend Yuuko's excited squealing and enthusiastic commentary. He was too lost in the music and the beauty of Victor's performance to notice anything else around him. Victor had captured his attention, and Yuuri knew he'd never be able to look away again.

Even while receiving his medal, Victor was poised and graceful. He grinned, the brilliance of his smile nearly outdoing the shine of the gold medal around his neck. When the teen lifted the gold to his lips and kissed it, Yuuri practically swooned. Yuuri decided right then that he would learn everything there was to know about the older skater and one day, hopefully, meet him on the ice as equals. 

From then on, not only did Yuuri start dedicating his time to the ice, he started dedicating his time to Victor as well. More than once, his parents had to chase him away from the family's work computer after he kept hogging the desktop while looking for information about the Russian skater. His mother finally suggested using the computers at the local library, which Yuuri took full advantage of to sleuth out articles about his idol. 

Yuuri tried to share his excitement with his family, but the intricacies of figure skating were lost on them. As much as they would try to encourage him when he gushed about the significance of Victor's newest costume, or the technical prowess of his jumps, Yuuri could tell by their indulgent smiles and glossy eyes that they were just humoring him. Sure, they bought him posters and special ordered foreign magazines, but they really didn't understand why Yuuri admired the elder skater so much. Mari would tease Yuuri about his obsession being nothing more than a celebrity crush, which Yuuri would vehemently deny. No, he _definitely_ just admired the silver haired teen for his skating abilities and nothing else. 

Yuuko at least understood Yuuri's admiration, seeing as she was the person who first introduced the younger boy to Victor's skating. She would gush about Victor's skating skills, practice watered down versions of his routines, and squeal over newly revealed merchandise right along side Yuuri. They would watch pre-recorded competitions together, analyzing Victor's skating and rewinding over and over until one of their parents insisted they'd been watching long enough and shooed them away from the television. 

As much as Yuuri enjoyed spending time with Yuuko, he did not particularly enjoy spending time with the boy that seemed to shadow her everywhere. Takeshi was loud, pushy, and rude, and Yuuri could not figure out why someone as nice as Yuuko enjoyed spending time with him. Some of Yuuri's first memories of skating were of being teased and shoved by the older boy. Takeshi bullied him less as they both got closer to Yuuko, but he still only seemed lukewarm toward Yuuri, and usually defaulted to teasing comments when Yuuko wasn't around to keep him in line. Much to Yuuri's disappointment, the two older skaters only seemed to grow more inseparable as they aged. 

Takeshi eventually seemed to mature, his biting comments transitioning more into friendly teasing than hurtful, until Yuuri felt comfortable counting him as a friend. The harsh words and actions from their childhood could never be undone, but it did help that the older boy seemed genuinely apologetic about his actions, and not just because Yuuko would pinch him when he was rude. 

Despite their growing closeness, Takeshi never developed the same admiration for Victor that Yuuri and Yuuko had. Whenever one of them would run into Ice Castle gushing about something Victor-related, Takeshi would just roll his eyes and busy himself elsewhere until the other two were done. 

Yuuko also fed Yuuri's growing collection of Victor merchandise. She would get him a new poster for his birthday, or when she "accidentally" ordered two copies. Of course, nothing was more precious to him than the little poodle inspired by Victor's own dog. Vicchan was a ray of sunshine, and quickly became Yuuri's constant companion. Vicchan's puppy eyes were so irresistable, Yuuri couldn't even stay mad when the little dog chewed up his limited edition 2006 Russian Nationals promo poster that he had specially ordered from a sketchy Russian website. It had been a relief when the family's computer didn't end up flooded with viruses. The poodle, however, didn't know the poster's value and had gnawed a hole right over Victor's face. Yuuri tried to salvage the poster with tape, but it was beyond repair so he reluctantly ended up having to throw it away. 

Even though Yuuko never completely stopped feeding Yuuri's obsession, or watching major competitions with him, she seemed to have less and less time to discuss their favorite skater as they aged. As Yuuri neared his mid-teens, Yuuko began to spend more time outside the rink with Takeshi, and less time gushing about Victor with Yuuri. Yuuri rushed into Ice Castle on more than one occasion, ready to share a new Victor fact with Yuuko that he had read on the internet, only to find his friends absent. On the first occasion, Yuuri searched around the rink to find them, discovering the older teens engaged in a passionate make out session in a storage room, visible through the crack in the door left ajar. Yuuri blushed furiously and scrambled away, hoping the two were too busy sticking their tongues down each other's throats to notice his accidental intrusion. When Yuuko and Takeshi finally joined him on the ice sometime later, he intentionally avoided bringing up the topic of their disheveled hair and clothing, and found a fascinating spot on the wall to stare at while he practiced figures so he could avoid eye contact. He stopped looking for the absent skaters after that.

Yuuri was happy for his friends, he really was, but as they grew closer as a couple, he felt more and more like a third-wheel. He still combed fan blogs for news and information about Victor, but he found himself sharing less. Yuuko, to her credit, did seem to be trying her best to keep Yuuri included, but when she became pregnant at a young age, their conversations shifted away from Victor Nikiforov and toward Yuuko and Takeshi's future. Surprising no one in Hasetsu, the young couple wed shortly after the news of Yuuko's pregnancy. 

Yuuri saw less of Yuuko each day, and eventually Takeshi too, who had to tend to his very pregnant wife. When Yuuko first announced she was pregnant with not one but _three_ babies, Yuuri thought he was going to faint from shock. It was understandable that Yuuko and Takeshi were busy, but Yuuri couldn't help but feel a little lonely. Even though he was training and competing more seriously now with a real coach, he sometimes longed for the quiet days at Ice Castle, skating Victor's programs with Yuuko. Between his training schedule and Yuuko's pregnancy, he rarely had time to see his friend, and when they did visit with each other the discussion ended up geared towards Yuuri's upcoming competition or the newlyweds' growing family. There just wasn't time to talk about Victor anymore.

At least Yuuri still had a growing number of fan blogs he could peruse. As Victor made his mark on the sport, it was not surprising to see a rise in the number of fans dedicated to Russia's up and coming skater. Yuuri was grateful, even though he was too anxious to comment or start his own blog. Instead, he just lurked on existing blogs and muttered disapprovingly when someone posted something he didn't agree with. Still, it was hard to find time to make it to the library to use one of their computers, or even to spend time on his family's computer. He was serious about his figure skating career, and that came first, even before researching the young man that was his inspiration. 

It wasn't until Yuuri accepted a coaching offer from Celestino Cialdini in Detroit that his passive scrolling became a more active hobby. A rink mate introduced Yuuri to Tumblr, and after realizing that there didn't seem to be an active figure skating community on the site, he took it upon himself to try and start one. Yuuri's parents had helped him buy a laptop for school, so he had his own computer that he didn't have to share. Plus, he really didn't have anyone he felt comfortable talking about his obsession with in Detroit. Sure, plenty of his rink mates looked up to Victor, but he doubted they were on the same level of admiration. Looking at the dozen or so posters of Victor on his wall, Yuuri thought it best to keep the extent of that admiration to himself. 

There were occasional Skype calls with Yuuko where the two would try to stream Victor's competitions together, but Yuuko was often too busy with her three growing terrors to watch live. Yuuri understood, but it was disappointing nonetheless. 

Since he didn't have an outlet, Yuuri decided to make his own spot where he could gush about Victor. He didn't expect to become popular, and in fact, he really preferred anonymity. Coming up with a blog name was surprisingly difficult, especially since he wanted something that would be appropriate for a Victor Nikiforov fan blog. _Would it be too much to name my blog "VictorNikiforovTrash"? Probably. What about "PropertyOfVictorNikiforov"? No, that's creepy. What about, "RawMeVictor69"? No, I should probably be more subtle._ It took some debating, but Yuuri eventually felt satisfied with a more tame nod to the Russian skater. 

There seemed to be a few figure skating or winter sport themed blogs, so he followed those right away, but his options were pretty limited. He followed a few dog blogs, particularly ones that were poodle-centric, some dance blogs, and a few food-porn blogs for good measure. 

It took a few weeks of reblogging and scrolling for Yuuri to feel comfortable enough to make his first post. He decided to start simple, with a few of his favorite Victor facts and opinions. 

**golden-poodles** posted:

_An analysis of Victor Nikiforov's latest GPF programs_

_Victor never ceases to surprise me! I love how he is able to draw the audience into every performance, especially while maintaining such a high technical difficulty. Even though he stumbled a little bit on the quad sal in his short program, he still managed to..._

His first post got a few likes and reblogs, which honestly surprised him. Yuuri didn't think anyone would read what he wrote. It really didn't matter, though, as he just wanted a place to lay out his thoughts about Victor.

**golden-poodles** posted:

_Thoughts about Victor Nikiforov's new costumes_

_Both of this year's costumes remind me of Victor's 2008 program. Not in a bad way, I'm just getting a similar vibe with the color scheme! I have to admit though, the ruffles aren't my favorite, but he does look very good in that shade of purple. Honestly though, Victor looks good in everything. He could skate in khakis and still look amazing..._

A few more likes and reblogs, but nothing too exciting. 

**golden-poodles** posted:

_Victor Nikiforov's hair looks good at any length--fight me!_

_I remember seeing a lot of fans complain about Victor cutting his hair a few years back and I have to disagree with all of the people saying he doesn't look good with short hair. Sure, Victor's long hair was iconic, and yes I'm sad to see it gone, but I disagree that his short hair takes away from his performance. He looks more mature and masculine with his short hair, which is what I suspect he was going for. It makes sense that he cut it after he turned 18, and I won't stand for anyone saying he "ruined his look"..._

To Yuuri's surprise, his post about Victor's hair resulted in his first written response. 

**krystara** reblogged your post and added:

_omg this! I've been arguing with people since the day Vic cut his hair about how well it suits him! So glad to find someone else that agrees!_

He had to admit, it did feel good to have someone agree and comment on his post, since he had spent so long typing and backspacing to find the right words. Yuuri left for practice that day feeling good, and after dinner and a shower later that night, he opened Tumblr again to write another post. Before he clicked the "new post" button, he noticed someone else had commented on his existing post about Victor's hair. Yuuri was about to learn his first lesson about Tumblr: no matter what you post, someone will tell you you're wrong. 

**icesk8er-boi** reblogged your post and added:

_Are you for real? The only thing Nikiforov had going for him was his looks, and he ruined that the second he chopped his hair off. He was way hotter before. Now he's just an overhyped, overscored has-been._

Yuuri had to take a second to stop fuming before forming a response to the rude stranger. 

golden-poodles reblogged your post and added:

_First of all, you saying Victor was "hotter" when his hair was long is creepy--he was a teenager for almost the whole time he had long hair! Second, Victor is an incredibly talented skater. Even if you disregard the number of gold, silver, and bronze medals he has (which is A LOT), his programs are nothing like anything else in men's singles right now. Who else has that many quads? Or really, that many quads that can be landed_ consistently? _No one. Not to mention he makes his audience feel every emotion he is trying to convey in each performance. Even when he was injured last year, he still had every person in the audience in tears because his performance was so beautiful. Victor has earned every point, every medal he's gotten, and I'll prove it! Here is a detailed breakdown of all of Victor's scores from his gold winning performances since he joined the senior division..._

It was nearly midnight by the time Yuuri finished typing out his response to icesk8er-boi and his eyes were burning from staring at a screen for so long. With a yawn, Yuuri proofread his post one more time, then hit the reblog button. As tempting as it was to wait around and see if icesk8er-boi tried to argue again, he had class tomorrow morning and he already struggled to get out of bed on a good day. 

Exhausted in the morning, Yuuri didn't think about his Tumblr post until he was bored in class that afternoon. He opened a tab to scroll through his feed, and immediately noticed a plethora of notifications. His follower count had nearly tripled overnight (which really wasn't saying much since he barely had any to begin with), his post had significantly more notes than the night before, and he had a message in his ask box. 

It was surprising, to say the least. Yuuri hadn't expected to get any attention on his blog, but there were multiple comments of "yes!" and "drag them!" along with a fair number of likes and reblogs without commentary. 

Then there was the ask. Yuuri was a little nervous, as he knew how savage people could be on the internet. With some mental encouragement, he decided to open it.

**Anonymous** asked:

_Wow, how do you know so much about figure skating? I just can't seem to understand the scoring, do you think you could try and explain it?_

It wasn't the response he expected, but he was glad to see it wasn't an angry message. Plus, he could explain the rules and regulations of figure skating in his sleep. It was the first part of the ask that had him concerned. Yuuri didn't think it would be a good idea to reveal his identity online. Even if he was just some nobody from Japan, Victor might still find out what a crazy fan Yuuri was and get a restraining order or something. There was no way the Russian skater could _ever_ find out how much Yuuri idolized him. 

**golden-poodles** responded:

_I'm a huge fan of the sport, and especially of Victor, so I made a point to learn as much as I could about the technical aspects a long time ago. I'd be happy to explain to you how scoring works..._

To Yuuri's surprise, his follower count continued to grow after he posted his explanation. From then on, he posted about a few general figure skating topics, but mostly his blog was dedicated to Victor. More and more people commented on his posts and sent him asks, and he quickly found himself becoming one of the most popular figure skating blogs on Tumblr. Granted, there probably weren't very many figure skating blogs on Tumblr, but it was nice to have a community of people that shared his love of Victor. Sure, there were occasional assholes, but most people were pretty friendly. The inevitable low-key drama was worth it to have a place to gush about Victor's programs.

Yuuri kept up with his blog in between training and class, and within a year he had hit four digits for his follower count. 

**golden-poodles** posted:

_I'll be live blogging Victor's performance at the Cup of China tonight!_

_Ok, I know I've made posts about Victor's short program costume already, but I just have to reiterate how good he looks. He just looks so elegant, and it fits perfectly with the music he chose. Speaking of which, does anyone know anything about the song he's skating to?? I know he commissioned it himself but I haven't heard anything about it. I'd love to know what inspired him to choose this song._

**LocallyGrownAvocado** reblogged your post and added:

_@ **golden-poodles** It's such a cool story! Here's a link to an interview where he talks about it! _

**golden-poodles** reblogged your post and added:

_@ **LocallyGrownAvocado** thank you!!! Can't believe I missed that._

_Anyway, Victor's getting on the ice now. This is the first time I've been able to watch live all season. I've been so busy with school and work so I kept having to pre-record or find performances online. Stupid time zones! Plus, none of the national or European competitions are aired here._

_Victor looks so serious in this starting pose. It's such a contrast to his free skate where he's all smiles and flowing movements. I love how he is able to do both and still capture the emotions he needs so perfectly._

_omg a quad right at the start??? And he landed it perfectly, of course!_

_Just. Look at him. He's so perfect._

_That step sequence looked good! I know Victor is known more for his jumps but I don't think his step sequences get enough credit._

_I read that he choreographed pretty much this entire routine! I'm sure his coach had some input but he definitely did most of the work._

_Oh no, he wobbled a bit on that one! But look how he doesn't let it impact his performance. If I didn't know what to look for I wouldn't have noticed. It takes so much practice to learn how to let mistakes go like that._

_alsgkhsaldkghasd that quad flip. I'm wheezing. That was so good!_

_And the rest of his performance is flawless, as always!_

**iceicebby** reblogged your post and added:

_ugh not another nikifirov fanatic! your all the same. hes not even that grate of a skater. his triple axel was underotated and the quad flip is not that impressive. its just his gimick to distract from how much of a mediocer skater he actually is. give it a rest already!_

**golden-poodles** reblogged your post and added:

_I think you need to get your eyes checked because I re-watched Victor land that jump four times and I can tell you with 100% certainty that it was NOT under rotated. If the quad flip is so unimpressive, why aren't any other skaters landing it? Victor won both the GPF AND Worlds last year, plus of course Russian Nationals, Europeans, and NUMEROUS other national and continental competitions. He swept ALL of the major competitions! Plus, he's been consistently on the podium at every major international competition since he was 16! How is he mediocre in any way??? Or do you just live under a rock and not know about his VERY LARGE NUMBER of gold medals? I've written about Victor's MANY accomplishments here, here, here, and here. Plus, here's links to a few major international sports magazines with articles about how incredible Victor is as a skater (link, link, link). _

Yuuri tried to avoid the drama, he really did, but he wouldn't stand for people saying anything rude about Victor or downplaying his abilities. 

\-----------------------------------

When Celestino approached Yuuri and asked him to take on a roommate, Yuuri was less than thrilled. He had been enjoying his single dorm and not having to share space with a stranger, so adding another person to the already cramped room was not particularly appealing. However, Celestino insisted that it would be good for Yuuri, and helpful for the new student. 

"He's from Thailand. I know how hard the transition was for you here, so I was hoping you'd be able to make it easier for him. Plus, I never see you hanging around with anyone at the rink! Wouldn't you like to have a friend here?"

Yuuri didn't appreciate that his coach thought he was lonely, and he really didn't think he'd become friends with a skater a few years his junior. Why would a teenager want to hang out with him? Still, Yuuri could empathize with culture shock, and the massive adjustment of leaving one's home to live in a new country. Maybe it would be nice to live with someone else who didn't speak English as their first language. In the end, Yuuri agreed to room with the Thai skater. 

Being a fairly tidy person, it didn't take too long to shuffle his belongings over to his side of the room. He ended up buying additional dorm friendly storage, since he would be losing a good chunk of his former storage space. As he eyed the empty bed that would soon be filled by a stranger, Yuuri started to feel the cold claws of anxiety tightening around his chest. _What if he thinks I'm weird? What if he wants to throw parties all the time? What was I thinking?! I should have just told Celestino no!_ Sleep didn't come to Yuuri that night, instead he lie awake and thought over all the ways he could try and make himself appear a little more "normal" for his new roommate. As much as he didn't want to, Yuuri made the decision to remove a few of his Victor posters. Maybe then his obsession wouldn't be so obvious. 

After such a poor night's sleep, Yuuri barely rolled out of bed in time to make it to his morning classes. He could deal with the posters later, since the Thai skater wasn't due to arrive for a few more days. 

After nearly dozing off in his first lecture, Yuuri decided to busy himself on Tumblr to stay awake. Sure, he should probably be paying attention, but the lecture was so dry that he knew he'd pass out without something else to keep him occupied. 

**golden-poodles** posted:

_50 reasons Victor Nikiforov is the best men's singles skater in the world_

_1\. He always manages to surprise his audience_  
_2\. His signature move is the quad flip, a jump that few skaters have attempted, let alone landed cleanly_  
_3\. He choreographs his own routines--is there anything this man can't do?!?_  
_4\. He's kind to his fans and doesn't let success go to his head  
_5\. He doesn't sacrifice presentation for jumps_ _

__[Keep reading]_ _

__

__

**lisettola** reblogged your post and added:

_Great list! It's good to see Vitya getting the recognition he deserves!_

Writing about Victor was always a good distraction. Yuuri may not have paid attention in any of his classes, but at least he felt a little less anxious about the roommate situation. 

Or at least, he did until he unlocked the door to his room later than evening and nearly crashed into a young, slender, dark haired boy. Yuuri's mouth hung open in surprise, but the teen just grinned at him.

"Oh, sorry about that! You must be my new roommate! I'm Phichit Chulanont. It's Yuuri, right?" He reached out and enthusiastically shook Yuuri's hand, which was dangling like a limp noodle. 

"Uh." Yuuri wasn't sure what else to say. He hadn't been expecting his new roommate for another few days. All of his plans to impress the new skater were suddenly thrown out the window. Instead of dressing in his best jeans and top to look put together, Yuuri was wearing baggy sweat pants and a tattered Pokemon shirt. There were dark shadows under his eyes, and his hair was sticking in every direction. Even worse, his Victor shrine was still on display. Maybe Phichit hadn't noticed yet? Yuuri carefully extracted his hand from the cheerful boy's grip, and tried to casually scan his wall to see how noticeable they were. 

Phichit, unfortunately, noticed the movement and followed his gaze. "Wow, you must really like Victor Nikiforov!"

Yuuri grimaced. "Yeah..."

"He is pretty cool! I have a few posters of him too, though not as many as you. Mostly I have King and the Skater posters. Have you seen it?" Phichit was looking at him expectantly. 

"Um. Seen what?"

"The King and the Skater!"

"I've never heard of it."

Phichit gasped. "What?! And you call yourself a figure skater? Ok, forget unpacking, we need to watch it right now!"

The younger skater opened a suitcase and began tossing clothing on his bed, rumaging around until he pulled out a DVD case. A flying sock caught Yuuri's attention as it flew across the room, smacking right into a plastic cage containing three fuzzy rodents. 

"Um, Phichit? Are those hamsters?" 

Phichit's grin grew. "Yup! Don't worry though, that's not their real cage, it's just for travel. Their real cage is way bigger and has more stuff for them to climb over and chew on."

Of all the things Yuuri expected his new roommate to bring, hamsters were not one of them. "Are pets allowed in the dorms?"

"Nope!" He sounded quite chipper about his rule breaking. "I found the movie, by the way! Can I use your DVD player?" Phichit didn't wait for an answer before inserting the movie and picking up the remote. He hurried over to Yuuri's bed, which was strategically placed in front of the television, and sat down. Yuuri hesitated, and Phichit patted the bed beside him encouragingly. 

Yuuri wasn't sure what else to do, so he reluctantly joined Phichit on his bed. Phichit started the movie, humming along to the menu theme. Yuuri knew he was sitting stiffly, but the whole situation was so bizarre he didn't know how to respond. Why hadn't Celestino told him that Phichit was here? He was not prepared for this! 

The expression on Yuuri's face must have matched the panic building in his mind, because Phichit paused the movie and gave him a concerned look.

"Are you ok?" Phichit seemed genuinely concerned, the smile completely gone from his face. He looked nervous. "Did I overdo it? I'm so sorry, Yuuri! Celestino said I shouldn't push you, but I didn't listen! I'm so so sorry, I just wanted you to like me!" He jumped up from Yuuri's bed and rushed back to his suitcase, fishing out a coat. "I'll just give you space. I can tell Celestino that I should move out, don't worry about it!"

Well, the first meeting with his new roommate hadn't gone how he'd expected it at all. Phichit looked frantic, and Yuuri was just sitting on his bed, gaping at the Thai teen. As Phichit threw his coat on and sped toward the door, Yuuri finally called out, "wait, Phichit! It's ok, I'm not mad, I was just overwhelmed, that's all. I didn't think you would be here for another few days. You don't have to move out. Unless you want to." 

Phichit looked relieved. "Honestly, I'd rather stay here. I was excited when Celestino said there was another foreign student here. I was so scared to move here alone. This is so different from home." 

Nodding in agreement, Yuuri replied, "I know what you mean. It can be a hard transition...but I'll help you the best I can." 

Phichit's smile returned. "Alright, thanks Yuuri!" 

Yuuri returned the smile genuinely. "Of course. We non-native English speakers have to stick together!" Phichit chuckled at his comment. "And for the record, I was scared that you wouldn't like me too. I...I was going to take some of my posters down before you got here so I seemed less weird." 

"What? Don't take them down! They're cool! Victor's an awesome skater, and you look like you have a good collection. I don't think I've ever seem some of these before." Phichit pointed to a few. 

"I ordered them special off of some creepy Russian websites. I was afraid the Russian mafia was going to show up at my house one day."

Phichit laughed at Yuuri's joke, then opened up a second suitcase, pushing clothes out of the way until he pulled out a few posters of his own. "Like I said, I mostly have King and the Skater posters, but I have a few Victor posters too!" He held up two small prints that Yuuri recognized from Victor's last two years of GPF promo pictures. "Do you have these?" 

Yuuri nodded. "Yes. Back in my room in Hasetsu, I have more." 

"Wow, Yuuri, I think you might be Victor's biggest fan!" 

Blushing, Yuuri shrugged. "I don't know about that." 

Phichit's smile turned mischievous. "Oh, is it about more than his skating? He is _very_ attractive." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

Yuuri waved his hands frantically. "No, no! It's not like that! I mean yes, he's obviously really good looking and I've _noticed_ that he's attractive but I don't...I wouldn't..." He buried his face in his hands, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Yuuri, it's ok! I promise I won't tease you...much." Phichit winked, then sat down next to the older skater again. "Now, I believe I was introducing you to the greatest movie masterpiece of all time?" He picked up the remote, looking to Yuuri for confirmation.

Yuuri found that it was easy to smile around Phichit. "Yes, I believe you were." 

\-----------------------------------

For once in his life, Yuuri was glad to be wrong. His original assumption that he would not be able to make friends with his younger roommate proved to be completely incorrect. Phichit was incredibly likeable, and it turned out that he and Yuuri and a lot in common. The two enjoyed each other's company, and found themselves becoming fast friends. Yuuri did have to admit that he was glad to have someone to hang out with outside of practice. Phichit introduced Yuuri to his collection of movies (which were mostly various collectors editions of The King and the Skater and its sequels), and Yuuri took Phichit to his favorite restaurants and hang out spots in Detroit. The two took turns cooking meals from home, and taught each other inappropriate phrases in their native languages. One time, the two of them even put together a tiny obstacle course for Phichit's hamsters.

Phichit didn't mind when Yuuri would gush about Victor. Of course the younger skater was a fan too, because virtually all young skaters were fans of Victor, but he wasn't quite as enthusiastic as Yuuri. It also helped that Phichit was probably as obsessed with The King and the Skater as Yuuri was with Victor. Regardless, Phichit never made Yuuri feel bad for being excited, although he did enjoy teasing his friend. 

"Yuuri, did you hear what your future husband did today?"

"Yuuri, the subject of all your wet dreams is about to skate!" 

"Yuuri, the love of your life just got a Twitter!"

One thing about Phichit that took some adjustment on Yuuri's part was the teen's complete lack of personal boundaries. Phichit had a "what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine" philosophy, but the younger skater was at least conscientious about taking care of Yuuri's belongings when he did borrow them. It was very different than Yuuri was used to. Phichit would peek over Yuuri's shoulder to see what he was reading, or reach over and grab a piece of food off Yuuri's plate without asking. 

Yuuri was generally a very private, reserved person, but he found he really didn't mind sharing his belongings or his life with Phichit. The teen's enthusiastic grin was infectious, and it was hard not to have fun around him. Phichit did learn the hard way that Yuuri's sleep was not to be disturbed after the Japanese skater nearly knocked him out with a pillow when roused from his nap too early, but for the most part conflicts were rare between the two. 

Phichit's nosiness made it inevitable that he found out about Yuuri's fan blog. Yuuri had been working on a post without realizing that his roommate was lurking behind him.

**golden-poodles** posted:

_Why I don't think Victor is as much of a playboy as the tabloids say he is_

_Hear me out! I know Victor gives off this suave playboy vibe, but I think a lot of it is blown out of proportion by the tabloids. Think about it--he's so nice to his fans and his competitors, can you really picture him going around breaking hearts like the trashy gossip magazines say he does? It just seems out of character for him. Plus, he hasn't actually had that many confirmed relationships. Sure, he probably has hook-ups and one night stands outside of relationships (I mean, LOOK at him--there's no way someone that looks that good in dark spandex isn't getting it on a regular basis), but that doesn't mean he's a heartbreaker. I just think that... ___

__"Whoa, is that a Victor fan blog?"_ _

__Yuuri stiffened at his roommate's question. "Uh, maybe?"_ _

__Phichit leaned over Yuuri's shoulder, his eyes roaming over the most recent blog entry. "Wow, you really gave this a lot of thought!"_ _

__"Thanks?"_ _

__Springing away from Yuuri, Phichit grabbed his laptop and plopped down on his bed, immediately starting to excitedly tap on the keys. "I'll follow you! I could use more figuring skating on my dash. It was golden poodles right?"_ _

__"Um, yeah. With a dash in the middle."_ _

__Phichit nodded. "Ok, I found you!"_ _

__Yuuri checked his notifications. "Are you HamStar?"_ _

__Phichit grinned. "Yup!"_ _

__The two sat in silence for a few minutes as Phichit scrolled through Yuuri's blog. At first, Yuuri felt incredibly self-conscious. He had written extensively about his admiration for the Russian skater on that blog, and having someone he knew read it was kind of terrifying. Eventually, Yuuri realized that he had already told Phichit most of what he posted anyway, plus he knew the teen wasn't the type to judge him for something like this._ _

__"Oh wow, some of your posts got a lot of notes." Phichit sounded impressed. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, though. There are a lot of people out there besides you that are thirsty for Victor."_ _

__Yuuri chuckled. "Yeah, I definitely know I'm not the only one."_ _

__"You're the only one that matters though!" Phichit's expression was devious, and it made Yuuri nervous._ _

__"What do you mean?" Yuuri wasn't sure where the teen was going with this._ _

__"Well, when you meet Victor and he falls desperately in love with you, he won't even think about any of those other fans."_ _

__Yuuri blushed profusely, his whole face heating up. "What are you talking about?! I'm just hoping he doesn't find me weird or creepy! And that's assuming he ever talks to me in the first place!"_ _

__Phichit crossed his arms. "Why would he think you're weird or creepy?"_ _

__Gesturing to his merchandise collection, then his computer screen, Yuuri responded, "because I'm an obsessive fan! He'll think I'm a stalker or something!"_ _

__"Come on Yuuri, you think Victor doesn't have posters of his favorite skaters?"_ _

__"Maybe one or two, but not as many as I have. And not magazine cut outs. Or a body pillow. It's weird, and I don't want him to know about this. _Any_ of this."_ _

__Phichit sighed. "Fine, I promise not to tell him until your wedding."_ _

__"Phichit!"_ _

__\-----------------------------------_ _

__It was a few days after a particularly rough competition that Yuuri opened his Tumblr and noticed a new notification._ _

__**Anonymous** asked:_ _

_I know you're mostly a Victor fan, but I was curious about your thoughts on another skater. I was really hoping this Japanese skater I like would do well this season, but he totally blew it at his last competition. Do you know the one I'm talking about? Yuuri Katsuki?_

__Occasionally, Yuuri would get asks about other skaters on his blog. He had made a few posts about some of his favorite up and coming skaters (Phichit was of course top of the list), and he had written about Christope Giacometti a number of times, as he was arguably Victor's biggest rival. And on-and-off lover, if the rumors were to be believed. However, this was the first time anyone had asked about his own skating. Of course, no one knew that Yuuri ran this blog, so it wasn't like they knew who they were asking._ _

__Still feeling down about his most recent crash and burn, Yuuri decided to be honest. It wasn't like anyone would know it was him._ _

__**golden-poodles** responded:_ _

_I have to admit, I was incredibly disappointed by Katsuki's performance. I've never really expected too much from him, but I thought he would at least do better than this. Sometimes I think he should just stop wasting everyone's time and go back to Japan. His jumps are inconsistent, and I'm pretty sure he spent more time on his ass than on his skates. He's never going to get far in this sport._

__It felt weird referring to himself in the third person, but it was actually kind of cathartic to trash his own skating, especially after such a terrible performance. He wasn't sure how to feel when people started agreeing with him, because even though they were complimenting his post, they were also starting to make some pretty nasty comments. Not that he didn't deserve it, with what a mess of a skater he was._ _

__Overall, Yuuri decided it felt good to have a place to vent about his own inadequacies._ _

__**golden-poodles** posted:_ _

_An analysis of Katsuki Yuuri's most recent failure_

_So, we all saw Katsuki fail last week. He's definitely no stranger to poor performances, but I think last week was one of his worst ever._

_Ok, starting from the beginning: look how stiff he looks in that starting pose! What was he trying to do there? What kind of face is that?_

_Ugh, couldn't even land that triple axel cleanly. He's supposed to be good at those._

_What is he doing with his hands??? What is that???_

_Aaaaaaand down he goes._

_I feel like he's just making the same face the whole time. Is he making the same face the whole time??_

_He's down again..._

__**golden-poodles** posted:_ _

_50 reasons why Katsuki Yuuri is a terrible skater_

_1\. His jumps are absolutely awful_  
_2\. Seriously, what kind of senior skater can't land a quad sal?_  
_3\. He looks awkward in every single costume he wears_  
_4\. Did you know he cries after almost every performance?_  
_5\. He always makes this weird constipated face when he's thinking too hard_

_[Keep reading]_

__

__

__"Yuuri, what the hell? Are you bashing your own skating on your blog?"_ _

__Yuuri shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, so what?"_ _

__Phichit huffed. "So what? That's seriously messed up!"_ _

__"Why? No one knows it's me."_ _

__"I know that it's you!"_ _

__Rolling his eyes, Yuuri responded, "ok fine. No one _else_ knows it's me."_ _

__"That doesn't make it ok!" Phichit was yelling now. "You shouldn't be so mean to yourself!"_ _

__"I'm not saying anything that isn't true."_ _

__"Are you serious? You really think you're a terrible skater?"_ _

__Yuuri just shrugged again._ _

__Phichit glared at him. "I happen to think you're an _amazing_ skater, and I hate seeing you talk about yourself like this."_ _

__"Then don't read it."_ _

__It was that moment when Yuuri realized he had never actually seen Phichit mad before. The younger skater looked livid, and the heavy frown on his face seemed completely out of place on someone who was normally so cheerful. "I can't believe you think that's the issue here!"_ _

__"I don't see why it's any of your business," Yuuri snapped._ _

__Phichit threw his arms up in frustration. "Because you're my best friend, and I care about you!"_ _

__Yuuri suddenly felt incredibly guilty for being short with the younger skater. "I'm your best friend?"_ _

__Phichit huffed again. "Of course you are!"_ _

__"Oh."_ _

__"Yeah."_ _

__An awkward silence hung in the air, before both skaters sighed heavily. "Look," Yuuri started, "I know this sounds weird, but it actually helps me to vent about my mistakes. It's like...if I can get it out, it doesn't take up so much space in my head." Phichit didn't say anything, but his eyes were on Yuuri, so the older skater continued. "You know how bad my anxiety gets. If I can just...process everything, it helps."_ _

__Finally, Phichit's expression softened. "Ok. I don't like it, but if it helps you, then I guess I can't say anything."_ _

__Yuuri smiled in a way that he hoped was reassuring. "It does, I promise." He threw his arm around the younger skater. "And for the record, you're my best friend too."_ _


	2. Internet Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri gets a new coach...and a new follower on Tumblr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so I've given up on knowing how long this is going to be. I haven't even gotten to the CoC yet and I plan to go post-canon so this is gonna be much longer than I expected. Sorry/you're welcome? 
> 
> Thanks again to everyone who let me use their name and/or ideas for this fic!
> 
> I'm still struggling with the formatting so I apologize. There's one blog post in the middle that would not fully italicize no matter what I did so I threw some quotation marks around it to hopefully make it clear that it was separate from the next thought. I'm still new to AO3 so I'm still learning what I can and can't do for formatting so if the way the blog posts are set up are too hard to follow let me know and I can try to do something different!

Sochi had been a complete and utter disaster. Not only was his dog dead, but he had blown his one chance to make a good impression on his idol. To top it all off, an angry Russian teenager had found him crying in the bathroom and yelled at him. Definitely not one of his proudest moments. 

He didn't fare any better at Nationals, either. His dog was still dead, and any chance he had of redeeming himself was lost after his horrendous performance. On the bright side, his terrible skating provided plenty of material for his blog.

**golden-poodles** posted:

_The worst performance in the history of men's singles skating? Katsuki blows it again!_

_Katsuki's GPF and Nationals performances were honestly the most embarrassing things I've ever watched. I've seen novice skaters with more talent and grace than him! He should be ashamed of that dumpster fire of a performance. No wonder he slinked back to Japan with his tail between his legs..._

**krystara** reblogged your post and added:

_Yeah I have to agree, that was pretty awful. It's too bad, I know he's a fan of Victor's so I was hoping he'd do better._

**LocallyGrownAvocado** reblogged your post and added:

_Seriously. The guy should just give up before he embarrasses himself any more. Hey, at least Victor's performance was flawless as always! @ **golden-poodles** I know you said you had a work conflict during the GPF, but have you had a chance to watch it? Will you do another analysis? _

Yuuri really couldn't bring himself to watch anything related to the GPF, even Victor's performance. It reminded him too much of his failure. He had caught snippets of the Russian's short program, but he'd been too busy crying during his free skate. Yuuri was kicking himself. This year's program was one of Yuuri's favorites, and he wasted his only chance to see it live.

**golden-poodles** posted:

_Why Katsuki Yuuri should just retire already_

_I know there's been a lot of speculation that Katsuki's implosion at the GPF was due to an injury, but there has been no official report confirming this. What really happened is that he's a mediocre skater, and he finally just showed everyone how awful he really is. For his age group, Katsuki is way behind on jumps. He can barely land any quads, and the ones he can land are inconsistent at best..._

**lisettola** reblogged your post and added:

_I've been saying this for YEARS now! It's not like it's the first time he's crashed and burned. When will people learn that he's never going to get any better? idk why the guy has any fans at all. I know he was promising in juniors, but has he really improved since then? Hard to believe this disaster is (was?) Japan's top skater._

**HamStar** reblogged your post and added:

_I think you're all being too hard on Yuuri! I heard from an inside source that he had a personal issue that affected his performance. It's honestly impressive that he skated at all! Most people would have just quit before they started, but he still went out there and did his best._

_And by the way, I happen to think Yuuri is a great skater! So what if jumps aren't his strong point? He's not Victor Nikiforov, and he shouldn't try to be. Skaters can have talents besides how many quads they can land. Name one skater whose step sequences and spins are as impressive as Yuuri's. Go on, I'll wait._

**LocallyGrownAvocado** reblogged your post and added:

_@ **HamStar** I think his personal issue was that he's a shitty no-talent failure LOL. And sure, his step sequences are decent, but that doesn't mean anything when he can't stay upright on his skates. I agree that skaters can have different talents, but they should at least be able to land basic jumps. @ **golden-poodles** has at least a dozen posts detailing why Katsuki sucks. I suggest you read them before defending such a terrible skater._

Yuuri thought that he should be upset or offended that so many people were bashing his skating, but he couldn't help but feel like they were right. After all, what had he done since running away to Japan? Nothing but hide under his covers and eat katsudon that he hadn't earned. It's not like he _deserved_ the praise that Phichit kept trying to give him.

Well, there was _one thing_ Yuuri had done since he arrived back home: made a total fool of himself. Somehow, the video the triplets secretly took of him skating to Victor's gold medal routine had gone viral, probably because the attempt was so laughable. It had likely turned into a meme already, considering how fast the internet worked. He could see it now: "Want to see the world's most mediocre skater make a total ass of himself? Click here!" He hadn't bothered to look at the comments on the video itself, but he could guess what they were saying about his out-of-shape body and downgraded jumps. 

Of course, the video didn't escape the attention of his followers.

**krystara** tagged you in a post:

_@ **golden-poodles** have you seen this??? _

**Anonymous** asked:

_did u see that vid of katsuki trying to skate stay close to me? was he doing it for the attention?_

**lisettola** tagged you in a post:

_@ **golden-poodles** please PLEASE do a break down of this video of Katsuki skating Stammi Vicino! I'd love to hear your commentary! _

**LocallyGrownAvocado** asked:

_omg please tell me you saw that video of your least favorite train wreck skating Victor's routine???_

There were nearly a dozen more notifications of tags and asks, all begging golden-poodles to comment on the viral video. Was it too late to crawl under a rock and die? 

After assuring his mother that he would take care of shoveling the snow from the surprise storm within the hour, Yuuri got to work on a quick post. 

**golden-poodles** posted:

_A response to Katsuki Yuuri's viral video of Stammi Vicino_

_I know a few of you that tagged me thought that Katsuki posted this to get attention, but I don't think that's the case. He never looks at the camera and there's no evidence that he is aware that he was being recorded. I don't know what he was thinking skating Victor's routine, but I doubt he was doing it for the notoriety. He's usually the type of person that avoids drawing attention to himself._

_Regardless, yikes. I don't know why he even attempted this routine since he can't land half those jumps. This is so embarrassing, I hope Victor never sees it..._

Once he was satisfied with the analysis, Yuuri closed his laptop and began dressing himself for the cold. Warm mittens and hat in place, he said a quick greeting to his family before slipping out the door and grabbing the shovel. However, he didn't get very far before being tackled to the ground by a heavy bundle of fluff and slobber. 

It was almost like looking at Vicchan's ghost...but bigger. And familiar. _Hold on. This looks like..._

When Yuuri's father told him the gleeful poodle had arrived with a "good looking foreigner", Yuuri had to see for himself. He sped back through the door, heart racing, nearly knocking guests out of the way as he frantically dashed toward the onsen. 

Sure enough, there was his idol (and subject of all his teenage/not-so-teenage fantasies) soaking in the warm water. And of course, since he was sitting in a bath, he was naked. So very naked. When Victor stood up, Yuuri got a view that was infinitely better than anything his teenage brain could have conjured up. _Oh god. I wish I was that droplet of water on his abs._ He had to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't one of his steamy dreams. 

Of course, in his dreams, Yuuri would be wearing a lot less clothing, and Victor would say something seductive, not something about being his coach. _Wait. What?_

\-----------------------------------

**golden-poodles** posted:

_The rumors are true! Victor Nikiforov is coaching Katsuki Yuuri...but why?_

_Guys, listen: I like to think I know Victor pretty well after following his career for over a decade, but I have no idea what he's doing with this nobody._

_Allegedly, it's because he was "inspired" by Katsuki skating his routine...but that sounds fake??? Because why would an amazing skater like him be inspired by a loser like Katsuki Yuuri? What could he have possibly seen in that video that prompted him to fly halfway around the world to coach someone he's barely spoken to?_

_Ok sure, he did beat Yuri Plisetsky at Onsen on Ice, but that was probably a fluke. And really his performance wasn't that great anyway. But what else would you expect from a guy that has to picture a bowl of food to get in the right mindset to be sexy (if you can even call his skating that)?_

_This brings me to another point: why tf did Victor give Katsuki a program about sexual love??? What was he thinking??? That boy has about as much sex appeal as a wet sponge!_

The subject of Yuuri's most recent post was sitting cross-legged on his bed, frowning at something on his computer screen. Even while wearing sleep pants and a loose t-shirt, Yuuri thought Victor looked as handsome as ever. His hair was still slightly damp from his post-practice shower, adding to his casual appearance. If Yuuri hadn't already been thankful for Victor's teachings, he would've been thankful for the man's presence just to see him in quiet moments like this. There was something about seeing Victor relaxed and with his guard down that made Yuuri's heart flutter. Yuuri found that he actually appreciated casual Victor, with his ridiculous heart shaped grin, over the put-together skating legend whose smile never quite reached his eyes.

Yuuri sat on a small couch across the room, his laptop balanced on top of the poodle splayed over his lap. Originally, Yuuri couldn't understand why Victor had insisted on adding a couch to his room, but now that he was spending more time with his coach, he appreciated having a place to sit that wasn't right next to the legend himself. Not that he didn't enjoy being in close proximity to Victor! It was just challenging to think straight when the Russian would lean over to whisper something to Yuuri and his hot breath would tickle Yuuri's ear, or when he would physically adjust Yuuri's form in practice and his hand would linger just slightly longer than was probably acceptable on his student's thigh. Yes, it was very challenging to think _straight_ around Victor. 

Having the Living Legend around had been quite an adjustment for Yuuri. Half the time Yuuri would wake up and assume that Victor being here had just been a dream, and the other half of the time he would wake up and assume today would be the day Victor would finally get bored and go back to Russia. Shockingly, neither of those fears had happened. For whatever reason, Victor was still here, and he had settled into his life as Yuuri's coach. 

Yuuri learned quickly that, unfortunately, Victor was a morning person. By the time Yuuri rolled himself out of bed for practice, Victor would already have a happily walked and fed Makkachin, and he'd be helping Yuuri's family with chores around Yu-topia. Yuuri had insisted that Victor didn't need to help out, since he was a guest, but the Russian just shrugged and said he enjoyed getting to know Yuuri's family. He seemed to have taken especially well to Yuuri's mother, who was now calling him "Vicchan" and offering cooking lessons. The lessons were much-needed, as it turned out Victor was a horrendous cook. The man burned pasta. Pasta! It was very humanizing to see the greatest skater in the world pouting over a bowl of scorched noodles.

Victor huffed and grumbled something in Russian, catching Yuuri's attention right as he was about to start a post ranking Victor's best magazine ads. An added benefit of not sitting next to Victor was that the older skater couldn't see what Yuuri was doing on his phone or laptop. Yuuri really didn't need Victor to know about this particular hobby. 

"Victor? Everything ok?"

"Hm? Oh yes! Everything is just fine!" Victor's tone was a little forced, and he had that plastic looking smile on his face. 

Yuuri knew it wasn't his place to push. Victor was his coach, and Yuuri really didn't know him all that well. Sure, he could now be within six feet of Victor without feeling like he was going to spontaneously combust, but he wouldn't say they were close. After their talk on the beach, he assumed they were friends, but that didn't mean Victor was going to spill all of his secrets to Yuuri.

"Ok. If you, er, need to talk about something you can. I mean, I'll listen," Yuuri offered. 

Victor's smile seemed to become a little more genuine. "Thank you, Yuuri."

Yuuri nodded and looked back down at his screen, but he could feel Victor's eyes still on him. It was hard to write about his favorite cologne ad, which featured a shirtless Victor wearing unbuttoned jeans and a sly smile, with the man himself studying Yuuri so intensely. 

"Uh, Victor? Are you sure everything is ok?"

Victor looked unsure. "Do you...have you ever seen..." 

"What?" Yuuri frowned, it was unlike Victor not to be able to find his words. 

Suddenly, Victor's expression changed back to his media smile. "Nevermind, I'm just being silly." He fidgeted for a moment before continuing, "your free skate has been looking good lately. I'm glad you were able to find music you liked."

The quick change of subject almost gave Yuuri whiplash. "Uh, yeah. I've been feeling pretty good about it." 

"A GPF winning routine for sure." 

Yuuri laughed nervously. "Assuming I can qualify. I still have that regional competition first, and then I have to make it into the top six."

"You're a great skater, I know you can do it," Victor replied with more confidence than Yuuri felt. 

Heat rose in Yuuri's cheeks the way it did every time Victor complimented him. "Ah, thanks. You skate good too. I mean," he started stuttering, "you're a great skater too! But you already know that! I just...ugh." 

Victor chuckled. "I'm glad you think so." 

Oh, if Victor only knew how much Yuuri thought so. "Yeah," Yuuri said a little dreamily, "I've admired you since I was twelve." The words came out before Yuuri could stop them and he slapped a hand over his mouth. 

Victor raised a brow and grinned mischievously. "Oh, is that so? I never realized you were such a dedicated fan! Perhaps I should sign something for you?" 

The traitorous part of Yuuri's brain wanted to say "how about my ass?" Fortunately, Yuuri's more logical brain won out and he did not say anything that would embarrass him further. "Ah! That won't be necessary!" Being in Victor's presence for too long always seemed to turn Yuuri's brain to mush. "I, uh, have to...clean...that thing. Yeah. You know, that Mari wanted? So I'm just gonna...go?" Gently nudging Makka off his lap, Yuuri closed his laptop and muttered a panicked goodnight before rushing out of Victor's room and back to his own. 

The soft chuckle and "goodnight, Yuuri" were barely audible over Yuuri's frantic footfalls. After closing his door slightly harder than was probably necessary, Yuuri went through the motions of getting ready for bed. Even though he had ended up making a fool of himself in front of Victor, it didn't erase the fact that Victor had complicated him. It wasn't the first, as the Russian was very free with his praise, but it never failed to leave him feeling warm and breathless. Despite the word vomit, Yuuri fell asleep with a content smile on his face, dreaming of Victor's velvet voice complimenting him in a more _intimate_ context. 

The following morning was one of those rare occasions where Yuuri woke up before his alarm. Not ready to get up and start the day, he picked up his phone and decided to scroll through Tumblr for a while.

It wasn't uncommon for people to argue on Yuuri's posts about Victor and claim that he was overscored or that another skater was superior. Usually, it was a Christophe Giacometti fan claiming the Swiss had more sex appeal and that this was the year he'd finally overtake his friend for the gold. Yuuri wasn't in the business of trashing other skaters (besides himself) and Chris was a friend from juniors, so Yuuri would politely disagree and provide evidence to prove his point. The argument usually ended there, and Yuuri would triumphantly accept praise from his long time followers for his loyalty to their favorite skater.

Logging in to Tumblr and seeing a comment or two disagreeing with his analysis or his ranking of a Victor-related topic was not unusual. What _was_ unusual was having a single blog, one he had never heard of, commenting on _dozens_ of his posts. It was extra unusual that none of these comments had been here last night. Yuuri had finished his magazine ad ranking just before he went to bed, and there hadn't been any new notifications then. That could only mean that someone found his blog last night and felt so strongly about what he posted that they spent all night (or all day, depending on the time zones), disagreeing with him.

**spicykatsudon** reblogged your post ( _50 reasons why Katsuki Yuuri is a terrible skater_ ) and added:

_I don't like this list. Why would you post something like this? It's not accurate at all!_

_1.(His jumps are absolutely awful) They're not awful, he's just inconsistent. Victor Nikiforov, Yuuri's current coach, is known for his jumps. What a great opportunity for him to improve!_  
2.(Seriously, what kind of senior skater can't land a quad sal?) Lots of them! Also, not accurate anymore! Yuuri's quad sal has improved dramatically, thanks to Yuri Plisetsky!  
3.(He looks awkward in every single costume he wears) Yuuri does have a tendency to pick costumes (and clothing) that are not the most flattering, but he still looks gorgeous in everything.  
4.(Did you know he cries after almost every performance?) So what? Yuuri has been open about the fact that he struggles with anxiety. I personally think it's amazing that he is still able to get on the ice despite his brain making it so hard for him.  
5.(He always makes this weird constipated face when he's thinking too hard) No, he always makes an adorable _face when he's thinking too hard! Haven't you watched him in interviews? His nose gets all crinkly! He's so cute..._

_[Keep reading]_

**spicykatsudon** reblogged your post ( _Why Katsuki Yuuri should just retire already_ ) and added:

_This is so mean, what do you have against Yuuri? He shouldn't retire, he hasn't reached his peak yet! Yuuri is as far from mediocre as Victor Nikiforov is. Actually, I'd say he's further..._

**spicykatsudon** reblogged your post ( _The rumors are true! Victor Nikiforov is coaching Katsuki Yuuri...but why?_ ) and added:

_Why wouldn't Victor want to coach Yuuri? He's a talented but frequently underscored skater that has yet to reach his full potential. I bet Victor saw Yuuri skate Stammi Vicino better than he ever could and decided he couldn't stand the idea of such an amazing skater's talent going to waste. Who cares if he couldn't land the jumps? Jumps can be learned, but true artistry is something you either understand or you don't. And Yuuri understands it. I can completely understand why Victor was inspired by the way Yuuri can move on the ice._

_I know Onsen on Ice wasn't broadcasted everywhere, but I found it on YouTube! Watch it and tell me if you still think Yuuri can't do sexy. _

__**spicykatsudon** reblogged your post ( _50 reasons Victor Nikiforov is the best men's singles skater in the world_ ) and added:_ _

___"Wow, I'm sure Victor would be flattered to hear this! But I disagree. Sure, Victor has some medals...ok A LOT of medals...but I don't think that makes him the best skater in the world, it just makes him the most medaled skater in the world! There are a lot of skaters that deserve the title of "best", but I don't think Victor is one of them. Honestly, his skating bores me. When was the last time he really surprised his audience? Everyone expects Victor to do a quad flip, and he does. Everyone expects Victor to win, and he does. Coaching Yuuri is the first interesting thing that Victor's done in years._ _ _

___Yuuri's skating is inconsistent right now, but I think he will become a better skater than Victor. I think he_ is_a better skater than Victor, he just hasn't shown us yet. No one has stamina like Yuuri. No one has musicality like Yuuri. That's what figure skating should be about--not just landing jumps! If he can become more confident (and the judges can stop underscoring him) it will be amazing what he can do." _

Yuuri couldn't believe what he was reading. Did someone seriously think his skating was better than Victor's? _This has to be a joke!_ No one could be seriously implying that Yuuri was better at anything than Victor.

Well, there was _one_ person that might imply that. Uncaring of the time difference, Yuuri picked the contact on his cell phone for the only possible culprit. It took more rings than usual, likely due to the early hour, but the call finally connected with a tired groan from the recipient. 

"Yuuri? You better be dead or dying, otherwise there's no reason to call me this early," Phichit slurred with a sleep heavy voice.

Tapping his fingers on his knee impatiently, Yuuri asked, "are you spicykatsudon?"

There was silence on the other end of the line, before Phichit made a confused noise. "Am I what? Is this some kind of bootycall? I thought you had a hot Russian boyfriend for this sort of thing now." 

"He's not my boyfriend! And don't lie to me, it has to be you!"

Even in his sleep addled state, Phichit must have picked up on Yuuri's irritation, because he suddenly sounded much more awake. "Yuuri, I swear I don't know what you're talking about." 

"Swear to me on _The King and the Skater_ that you are not spicykatsudon." 

"I swear to you on _The King and the Skater_ that I am not spicykatsudon. Whatever that means."

Yuuri sighed. Phichit could be a little shit sometimes, but he wasn't a liar. "Ok, I believe you."

Phichit hummed on the other line. "Good. Now, will you tell me why you woke me up ridiculously early on a practice day?"

Yuuri winced, noting the time in Bangkok. "Ah, sorry. There's someone on Tumblr that was saying weird stuff on my posts and I assumed it had to be you."

The sound of blankets rustling filled the phone speaker. "Weird how?"

"Just...weird. I kind of freaked out and figured you were the only person that would post something like that." 

"So you woke me up to ask if I posted something on Tumblr?" Phichit sounded annoyed.

Yuuri winced again. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. I guess it could've waited but it was..."

"Weird?" Phichit supplied.

"Yeah. Sorry. Guess I overreacted a bit."

He heard Phichit sigh, then say, "it's alright. Knowing you, it probably was actually a big deal and you're just telling me you overreacted because you feel bad." 

"I should let you go back to sleep," Yuuri offered. 

Phichit huffed out a laugh. "Yuuri, you can't wake me up over a Tumblr post and then not let me read the Tumblr post. Hold on." 

There were more shuffling sounds from the other end of the line. "Posts," Yuuri corrected, sitting up to make himself more comfortable. 

"Right, posts," Phichit said through a yawn.

There were a few moments of silence, presumably because Phichit was opening up Tumblr and reading the posts. Yuuri put Phichit on speaker at low volume so he could look at the posts himself. 

Every once and a while, Yuuri would hear "holy shit" or "whoa" from the other side of the phone. Whenever Yuuri would interrupt, Phichit would shush the older skater so he could read some more. In the meantime, Yuuri decided to check out spicykatsudon's blog. 

The avatar was a steaming, delicious looking bowl of katsudon, and the header was of Yuuri himself, the top half of his body visible in the starting pose of Eros. He could only guess that the picture had been taken during his performance at Onsen on Ice, but he didn't remember seeing this one before. The blog's description read "Yuuri Katsuki's #1 fan!" Scrolling through the blog, Yuuri spotted the posts he had already read, plus comments on other posts. spicykatsudon had mostly responded to Yuuri's posts, but there were a few from other figure skating blogs he recognized. He even saw a few comments on Phichit's blog, agreeing enthusiastically with any post where the Thai skater praised Yuuri.

There were a few original posts as well. One in particular caught Yuuri's eye:

**spicykatsudon** posted:

_50 reasons why Yuuri Katsuki is the best men's singles skater in the world_

_1.That stamina! No one else has stamina like Yuuri does. One does have to wonder if it translates to other activities ;)_  
2.Yuuri focuses on musicality rather than throwing jumps in your face. We need more skaters like this! I for one am sick of seeing everyone trying to be Victor Nikiforov. One of him is enough, let someone else shine!  
3.He has the best ass in all of figure skating. Look, here's photographic proof!  
4.Yuuri never gives up, even when he's struggling! I've said it in other posts, but I really admire that he still is able to get out on the ice even when his anxiety is acting up. That takes some real dedication!  
5.Have you ever noticed how luxuriously full his eyelashes are? He's so pretty <3 

_[Keep reading]_

**Droewyn** reblogged **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Wow, I just found this blog and I'm so happy I did. I'm sick of seeing people trashing Yuuri! He's an incredible skater, modest, hard-working, and an inspiration for everyone struggling with a mental illness. He's one of the top skaters in the world and he does it while dealing with his anxiety--talk about goals!_

_Great post op, will definitely follow for more._

**Fairy-Bookewyrme** reblogged **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Yaaaaaaas. I need more Yuuri love on my dash!_

**margs** reblogged **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_THIS. Also, I'm VERY appreciative of your "best of Yuuri's ass" post. Glad I found your blog! I've been looking for someone with figure skating knowledge to follow so I can get good analyses of his programs this season, but all the ones I found were saying some pretty nasty stuff about his skating. So happy that you are the exception!_

"What?!" Yuuri shrieked, but he was drowned out by Phichit's laughter over the phone. 

"Oh my god, Yuuri! You found your number one fan!" Phichit sounded delighted, still laughing heartily through the speaker.

"It's not funny, Phichit! Someone is obviously making fun of me!"

Phichit snorted. "Is that really what you think is happening here? This person is talking about you the way you talk about Victor. Are you making fun of him when you make your posts?"

"No, but--" 

The younger skater cut him off before he could protest. "Exactly! If you're not doing it as a joke, why would you think this person would be?"

"Because I'm not Victor!" 

"Yeah, and clearly people think that's a good thing!" 

Yuuri groaned, his head falling back and bumping the wall. "I can't believe this is happening to me."

"What, having fans?" 

"Yes!" Yuuri squealed as loudly as he could without waking up the whole inn or, god forbid, his coach sleeping down the hall. 

Phichit snickered over the phone, ignoring Yuuri's protesting. "Oh man, have you seen this post about your ass? It's great!" 

Even though he was alone in his room, Yuuri could feel his face heating up. He clicked on the link in spicykatsudon's post that referenced his ass, and was redirected to a post called "The Best of Yuuri Katsuki's Ass". The post featured still pictures and GIFs of closeups of Yuuri's backside. Yuuri groaned again. 

A laugh over the speakers indicated that his pain had been heard. "I'm guessing you found it. Wow, this person really found some good ones! I'm gonna comment on this."

"Don't you dare, you'll just encourage them! I should report this." 

Phichit gasped. "And deny your fans proof of your glorious caboose? How cruel of you!" 

"Easy for you to say, your ass isn't plastered all over some stranger's blog on the internet!" 

Phichit was laughing wildly, audibly gasping for air between his chortling. Yuuri grumbled irritably while he waited for his friend to calm down. 

"Wow, Yuuri," Phichit managed. "I've always told you that your ass is phenomenal, and now I have proof that the internet agrees!" 

"It's not the whole internet, just this one person."

"And all 300 people that like, reblogged, and commented." 

"300?! You're lying!" 

Yuuri swore he could hear the grin in Phichit's voice. "Nope! Says right there!"

"I'm still reporting it."

Phichit stopped laughing. "What? Why?"

"This has to break some kind of rules or something," Yuuri reasoned. 

"Ok, first of all, Tumblr lets you post porn, so I doubt your clothed ass is more scandalous than that. Second, you've posted and reblogged steamy pictures of Victor plenty of times!"

Yuuri winced. "Ok, that's true." 

Phichit sighed and said, "look. If you're really uncomfortable, then go ahead and get it taken down. But don't do it because you feel like you don't deserve the attention or something like that."

It took a few moments of thought, but Yuuri finally agreed not to report the picture. Sure, it was incredibly embarrassing, but he'd be a hypocrite if he got huffy over a few fans fawning over his ass. It's not like he hadn't done it to Victor before. In fact, Yuuri could think of a few GIFsets he had posted dedicated to showing off Victor's rippling muscles in his tightest costumes. 

Feeling calmer, Yuuri said goodbye to Phichit, passing on his greetings to Celestino. Yuuri slid back down onto his bed, the phone still clutched in his hand. His alarm was set to go off soon, but he had enough time to respond to one of spicykatsudon's posts. 

**goldenpoodles** reblogged **spicykatsudon** 's post ( _50 reasons why Yuuri Katsuki is the best men's singles skater in the world_ )

_Katsuki is so far from being the best at anything, it's laughable that you'd say otherwise. Everything on that list is subjective! You say that medals don't matter, but doesn't a gold medal signify the individual that performed the best in that instance? Well, Victor has enough gold medals to signify that he was the best on MANY occasions. More than any other skater in history, in fact. By definition, doesn't that make him the best overall? That's more objective than saying Katsuki is best because you like his eyelashes. Which is ridiculous, by the way! His eyelashes are perfectly average, just like the rest of him._

_I will agree that figure skating is about more than just jumps, but a skater should still be able to land them. It's not about the_ number _of quads, it's about the fact that he can't land the ones he's supposed to be good at. Same with his triples, and doubles on occasion. Obviously jumps aren't Katsuki's strong point, but it wouldn't matter if he could just land the ones he's supposed to be good at. It's embarrassing to see a senior level skater failing on jumps that he supposedly perfected as junior, or even novice skater. Victor is amazing because not only does he have a bunch of quads that he can land, he lands them consistency. He rarely even wobbles on them! I'm not saying he's perfect, but he's as close to perfection as humanity has ever gotten. Now THAT'S talent!_

Feeling satisfied with his comeback, Yuuri turned his alarm off as it began blaring, then dragged himself out of bed. Joints cracking, he stretched and yawned before convincing his body to move. 

After dressing and preparing for the day, Yuuri went to meet Victor for breakfast. Surprisingly, the Russian was not already waiting for him like usual. Yuuri looked around, and realized Makkachin hadn't greeted him either. It was unusual for Yuuri to be up before Victor. Usually, the younger skater only woke up first if his coach was hungover. It was unlikely that was the case today, though, as Yuuri was pretty sure Victor had gone to bed shortly after him.

Right as Yuuri was about to ask his mother if Victor had been spotted, the sound of Makkachin's nails and happy panting filled Yuuri's ears. He smiled as the poodle barreled into him, bracing his needs to keep the enthusiastic pooch from knocking him over. 

"There you are! I was worried when you didn't come to greet me," Yuuri cooed at the grinning poodle. He looked up at the sound of Victor's sock clad feet padding in behind his dog. Victor looked the most disheveled that Yuuri had ever seen him, save a few hungover mornings. The older skater's normally pristine hair was sticking up in multiple directions, and there were dark shadows under his eyes. 

Yuuri made to comment on Victor's haggard appearance, but his mother beat him to it. "Vicchan! Are you alright? You look exhausted."

Victor nodded slowly. "I am. I...couldn't sleep last night." 

"Oh, sorry to hear, anything we can do?" Yuuri asked, starting to worry about Victor falling over on the ice.

The older skater shook his head. "No, thank you. It was just one of those nights, you know?" He tried to smile, but it looked like it was taking a great deal of effort. 

Hiroko walked over to Victor and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't overdo it today, alright?"

Victor nodded again. "I promise." 

Hiroko didn't look convinced. "Yuuri, keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't fall over from exhaustion." 

Yuuri caught Victor pouting at him and tried not to laugh at the man's pitiful expression. "Of course. I'll be an extra attentive student today," he said with a wink.

Victor tried to maintain his pout, but a grin slowly stretched across his tired features instead. 

Hiroko hummed approvingly. "Good. Now, grab some breakfast, and I can get Mari to take care of Makka so you won't be late." 

"You don't have to do that," Victor insisted. "It's my fault I overslept." 

"It's no trouble," Hiroko countered, "Mari loves Makka and I'm sure she wouldn't mind feeding and walking her for a day." 

"Well, if you're sure...it would be very helpful so we can get to the rink on time," Victor said appreciatively. 

Nodding, Hiroko went to fetch her oldest child, calling Makka to follow behind her. 

After breakfast, and a quick(ish) stop in front of a mirror so Victor could fix his hair, the pair made their way to Ice Castle. Victor was definitely sluggish, and Yuuri was very tempted to ask if his lack of sleep was related to whatever was bothering him yesterday, but it didn't seem like his business. 

Today was a much less hands-on training session than usual, and for once Yuuri was grateful that Victor wasn't touching him. It seemed like if Victor stopped leaning on the barrier he would just tip over. 

After running through the first half of his free skate a few times, Yuuri skated over to his coach as he nodded drowsily with approval. "Victor? If you need to go home early you can. I can just work on things on my own today."

Victor shook his head. "No, I'll be ok."

For a second it looked like the older man was swaying on his feet. Yuuri raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You seem really tired. It's really no big deal, I don't mind practicing on my own."

"I'm your coach, I should be here for you," Victor said stubbornly. 

Yuuri crossed his arms. "You taking an afternoon off won't make you a bad coach. You're allowed to have bad days, you know. That's what you tell me all the time."

Despite his exhaustion, Victor's smile lit up his face. "That is very kind of you to say, Yuuri. How about a compromise? A break now, then we can finish early. You can cross train or go to Minako's, and I can go home and nap. Deal?" He held out his hand.

Yuuri smiled and reached out, squeezing Victor's hand as he grasped it. "Deal."

Releasing Yuuri's hand, Victor skated carefully off the ice, plopping down on the bench with a tired sigh. Yuuri followed him over, sitting down a little more gracefully. The two sat in silence, but it wasn't awkward. Yuuri often found that silence with Victor was actually quite comfortable. Victor could carry the conversation when he wanted to, but he was also content basking in an easy silence with Yuuri.

While stretching out a tight muscle in his calf, Yuuri noticed that Victor had picked up his phone and was scowling. The Russian muttered something, then started tapping away at his phone. Yuuri was curious about what had the older man so worked up lately, but Victor didn't seem interested in talking about it. Shoving his curiosity aside, Yuuri finished stretching until his coach finally called for practice to start again. 

The rest of practice was uneventful, and true to his word, Victor and Yuuri separated in the afternoon. Yuuri decided on an afternoon of dance practice with Minako, waving to his coach as they parted. 

Dance turned out to be a good choice, as Yuuri's brain had started conjuring up various reasons why Victor was feeling down, and none of them were good. _What if he's trying to figure out how to tell me he wants to leave? What if Yurio got hurt? What if he found out he's dying? What if he found out_ I'm _dying?_

Minako always picked up on when Yuuri's mind started wandering and would bark at him to run through a segment again to keep him busy. By the time the sun was beginning to set and Yuuri was ready for dinner and a shower, he felt calmer. 

Victor was still napping by the time Yuuri got home, so he let himself relax between his shower and dinner, opening up Tumblr to check his blog. spicykatsudon had been active, writing a few more posts and responding to Yuuri's. 

**spicykatsudon** reblogged your response to ( _50 reasons why Yuuri Katsuki is the best men's single's skater in the world_ ) and added:

_I don't know where you got the idea that Victor is "human perfection", but you are so wrong. What's perfect about doing the same thing over and over again? He's boring, overscored, and I'm over him. I'm sick of seeing everyone fawning over him like he's some kind skating god. So his jumps are impressive, so what? If you compare Yuuri skating Stammi Vicino to Victor's performance at World's, Yuuri is the superior skater. AND keep in mind, Yuuri was not at competition weight, not performing in front of an audience, not wearing a costume, presumably not practicing with his coach, etc, and he still skated better than Victor. Like I said, it's not about the jumps, it's about the emotions and musicality! Even in that grainy phone video you could feel every emotion Yuuri was trying to convey. It felt like he was reaching out for someone through the screen, like he was calling for someone. That's EXACTLY what Victor was trying to do, but he never got it right. He came close at World's, but he still paled in comparison to Yuuri's performance. I, for one, can't wait to see what a skater like that can do with the right coach at his side._

**Zupsgirl1** reblogged **spicykatsudon** 's post and added: 

_Wow, I never thought of it like this but you're totally right! I'll definitely keep an eye on Katsuki this season. @ **goldenpoodles** why are you so determined to hate on Japan's Ace? _

**snarkonice** reblogged **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_lol is this real? You're actually saying that the human train wreck that is Yuuri Katsuki could EVER be better than the Living Legend of men's figure skating? hah!_

**cupromantic** reblogged **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_This dumbass actually thinks Katsuki is even close to Nikiforov's level?_

**InquisitiveMoth** reblogged **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_You don't have to be a jerk about it @ **cupromantic**! People are allowed to have different opinions, you know. Even if op wasn't right (which they are, Yuuri is a gem!) you still have no right to be rude like that. Nikiforov fans are all the same! _

You reblogged **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_I didn't say Victor was "human perfection", I said he was close! I know he's not perfect, but based on his scores you can't deny he's pretty darn close. I'm not sure why you've decided to fixate on a dime-a-dozen skater like Katsuki, but you're ignoring basic facts._

_1.Victor Nikiforov is the most decorated skater IN HISTORY. He has 5 consecutive GPF and World Championship wins. He's an Olympic gold medalist and has won virtually every competition he is eligible to win.  
2.Katsuki Yuuri placed dead last at the GPF and bombed his own Nationals, even though he was expected to win with his base score alone. How much do you have to mess up to lose to a bunch of teenagers? _

_Stop trying to make Katsuki seem like he has actual talent--you're only making yourself look like a fool._

Feeling in a particularly foul mood after dealing with spicykatsudon's musings, Yuuri stomped down to dinner with a scowl plastered on his face. Victor was already in the dining area, frowning at his phone again. The older man's brows were furrowed with frustration and his eyes were narrowed at something he was reading. He looked about as irritated as Yuuri felt. 

Yuuri sat down next to Victor without a word, his coach not even acknowledging his presence as he scoffed at whatever he was reading. It was probably for the better than Victor didn't try to smother Yuuri with his usual enthusiastic affection, as the younger skater felt like he was on the verge of snapping at the next person that addressed him

As the tension sat over the two skaters like a thick blanket, Mari raised her eyebrows from the other side of the table and looked between her brother and his coach. "What's up with the two of you?"

Both grumbling, Yuuri and Victor snapped in unison, "someone was wrong on the internet!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry again for any formatting errors.
> 
> Edit 2/12: Since so many people have commented on the ending, I wanted to make sure credit was given to Droewyn for the idea and say thanks again for letting me crowd source! It was such a perfect ending for this chapter.


	3. But I'm Your Biggest Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The CSK Championship has finally arrived...and possibly the identity of spicykatsudon

"Someone was wrong on the internet!"

Following their dual exclamation, Mari barely concealed a snort behind her hand, and Victor was looking at Yuuri with a curious expression. The older man's brows were furrowed and his eyes shining with an emotion that Yuuri couldn't quite place. 

Mari's eyes darted back and forth between Victor and Yuuri, still fighting down snickers behind her palm. Neither skater seemed sure of what to say. It was an odd declaration for both of them to make, and they knew it. Victor still looked tense, though less angry than when he'd been scowling at his phone. Yuuri just blinked at his coach, his mind desperately trying to find an explanation that wouldn't make him sound like he was an obsessive stalker. 

It wasn't like he could tell Victor what was going on. Even if Yuuri explained that he was defending the Russian skater, he would have to explain why he was talking about him on the internet in the first place. That would lead to the uncomfortable discussion about how much time Yuuri actually spent fawning over his coach, and what other topics he discussed. Victor did not need to know about Yuuri's "Victor Nikiforov Underwear Ad Appreciation Post" or his most popular drunken raving about how he wanted Victor to step on him. He had thought about deleting that particular post, but his followers became distraught whenever he brought up that idea. Apparently, it was his "best thirst post ever".

Victor finally cleared his throat and said, "so, uh, what was someone wrong about?" 

Yuuri flinched. "Oh...well..." His brain was still frantically trying to come up with an excuse.  _ Quick. Say something. Anything! Something about a movie character. Something about a type of food. _ "Uh..." _ Come on, just make up an excuse, any excuse! _ "Platypuses."

Mari began to roar with laughter as Victor gaped at him. "Platypuses?"

"Yes!"  _ No! Why would I say that?! _

Of course, Victor wouldn't just drop it. "What about them?"

"Well."  _ You dug yourself into this hole, now get yourself out! _ "Some one was saying...that...the plural of platypus is 'platypi'. It's not. It's 'platypuses'."

Victor didn't respond, continuing to gape at Yuuri. Mari was clutching her side as she laughed wildly. 

"And then...someone said it was 'platypussy' which is, you know, terrible. And inaccurate."

"That is pretty terrible," Victor tentatively agreed.

"Right. And then they...said that... platypuses are birds. Which they're not. They're mammals."  _ Why am I still talking?!  _ "So then they said 'how can they be mammals if they lay eggs?' which, to be fair, is a good question because monotremes are weird and their babies drink milk off of their skin and they're also venomous so I could totally see why someone would think they might not be mammals..."  _ Great. Now I'm babbling about platypuses. _

"I didn't realize you were so passionate about platypuses," Victor said with an awkward smile.

Mari snickered. "Yeah, Yuuri. Who knew you had time to learn so much about platypuses while you were busy with your  other interest." She grinned mischievously. 

With a confused (and adorable) head tilt, Victor started to ask, "what other interest--"

Yuuri cut him off, not wanting Victor to realize that Mari was talking about his fascination with the man himself. "Oh, what had you upset, Victor?"

For a moment, Victor looked surprised. Then, he flashed his media smile and replied, "nothing quite as important as platypuses." He winked.

Yuuri blushed, though he wasn't sure if it was from Victor's charm or the awkwardness of the whole situation. "Uh, right."

Victor waved his hand dismissively. "Someone said they didn't like poodles and I just got a little worked up about it, that's all."

Yuuri huffed. "Understandable. Poodles are the best." 

With a chuckle, Victor agreed, "they are! How could anyone not like poodles?" 

"I feel like people don't like their show cut, and they forget that grooming is the owner's choice and not a reflection of the dog," Yuuri reasoned.

Victor nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! People think poodles are stuffy little frou-frou dogs, but that's not true at all!"

"Yeah," Yuuri agreed, "they're so smart and friendly!"

"Did you know they're actually one of the smartest dog breeds?" Victor leaned in toward Yuuri excitedly.

Grinning, Yuuri replied, "I did! They make great service dogs."

As if understanding that her two favorite people were discussing her heritage, Makkachin padded into the room, tail waving happily. She settled in between Yuuri and Victor, who both began petting her immediately.

"You know what really bugs me?" Victor asked, receiving an interested "hm" in return from Yuuri. "People always talk about how much they hate poodles, but love doodles. You know, like labradoodles, goldendoodles, bernadoodles, stuff like that."

Yuuri nodded. "I completely agree! They always talk about how nice those dogs are and how they don't shed, while also saying how much they wouldn't like a poodle. Both of those are poodle traits!" He rubbed Makkachin's ears affectionately as he spoke, eliciting a content sigh from the poodle.

"Seriously. If you want a social, non-shedding, curly coated dog, just get a poodle! I don't know why someone would pick a something mixed with a lab or a golden instead, those breeds aren't exactly known for their health!" Victor exclaimed, Makka boofing at the rise in her owner's voice.

Yuuri continued, "I love how many different grooming styles there are, too."

"Right? I had Makka cut to look like a lion once. Do you want to see a picture?" He was already pulling out his phone to show Yuuri.

Yuuri nodded frantically. "Oh my god, yes! Show me!" 

Leaning over the table with their heads close together, Victor scrolled through his favorite Makkachin pictures, providing commentary for each one. Yuuri laughed when they reached the pictures where Makka was sporting a lion cut. Victor had booked a professional shoot, with jungle themed decor included. One picture in particular, which featured the poodle perched on an artificial log with her mouth wide open, made Yuuri snort with laughter. Apparently that shot was supposed to make Makka look ferocious, but she just looked like she was grinning. 

"Why have I never seen these before?" As Victor Nikiforov's number one fan, it was disgraceful that he had never seen this particular photo shoot. 

"Oh, this was when Makka was pretty young. I was just getting into the spotlight and I never released the photos later. It was nice to keep some things to myself." Victor shrugged. 

Between the adorable poodle pictures and Victor's willingness to share something so precious with him, Yuuri's heart felt like it was going to explode. He smiled warmly, and Victor returned the gesture. With the earlier tension completely dissipated, Yuuri became aware of how close his face actually was to Victor's. They had leaned in close to look at Victor's phone, and the Russian didn't seem to have an interest in backing away. Victor was so close that Yuuri could count the freckles on his nose that they always photoshopped out in professional photo shoots. He wondered if Victor's lips always looked this soft, or if it was just the lighting. Victor was looking at him with a gentle expression and, just for a second, Yuuri could've sworn the older man leaned in a little bit more. 

Mari cleared her throat, causing Yuuri to jump and narrowly avoid bumping his forehead against Victor's. He'd completely forgotten she was there. "Wow. You two are perfect for each other," Mari said matter-of-factly, then got up and walked out of the room. 

With the moment ruined, the embarrassment returned full force.  _ I can't believe I just talked to Victor Nikiforov about platypuses. What is wrong with me?! _ Yuuri quickly leaned away from Victor, rubbing his arm awkwardly. 

Victor was blushing furiously, and it was a beautiful sight that Yuuri had never seen before. The blush was darkening his cheeks and spread all the way down his neck, as far as Yuuri could see. It wasn't like Victor to get so flustered, but then again, Mari's comment probably had him feeling horrified that anyone would ever imply that he would be with someone like Yuuri. He was probably incredibly embarrassed that she would even suggest such a thing. 

\-----------------------------------

** spicykatsudon ** posted:

_ Everyone support Yuuri at his first competition this weekend! _

__

_ As I'm sure all of you know, our favorite pork cutlet bowl fatale will be competing at the Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship later this week. Don't forget to show him your love and support! I know Yuuri doesn't go on social media much, but he does have a  Twitter and an  Instagram if you wanted to drop a nice comment or two!  Also, since so many of you asked, I did some digging and I was able to  find a site that will be livestreaming the competition this weekend so you can cheer Yuuri on! Unfortunately, I have a work conflict so I won't be able to watch live but I promise I will comment later, on what I'm sure will be a stunning performance :)  _

** Fairy-Bookewyrme ** reblogged  ** spicykatsudon ** 's post and added:

_ Thanks @ ** spicykatsudon ** ! Definitely looking forward to watching Katsuki shine this weekend! _

** snarkonice ** reblogged  ** spicykatsudon ** 's post and added:

_ Uh I think you mean definitely looking forward to watching Katsuki crash and burn this weekend. @ ** golden-poodles ** tear this dude apart  _

** LocallyGrownAvocado ** reblogged  ** spicykatsudon ** **'** s post and added:

_ Hah so true @ ** snarkonice ** . Are we ready to stop pretending that Katsuki is any good? _

** Droewyn ** reblogged  ** spicykatsudon ** 's post and added:

_ @ ** snarkonice ** @ ** LocallyGrownAvocado ** don't you have anything better to do? No one asked for your opinions, just let us cheer on our favorite skater in peace! I don't know what else I would expect from people who worship a stuck-up has-been like Nikiforov anyway tho _

** krystara ** reblogged  ** spicykatsudon ** 's post and added:

_ Has-been? Are you serious? I've been really patient with you Katsuki fans but if you're gonna trash talk Vic I'm not gonna sit here and take it. How can you call the literal living legend of figure skating a has-been?  _

** popoBITCH ** reblogged  ** spicykatsudon ** 's post and added:

_ uh both of them suck, Georgi is the RIGHTFUL top skater in Russia! he's gonna go for gold this season, just watch! _

Yuuri wasn't sure how exactly it happened, but somehow his disagreement with spicykatsudon had turned into a full out fight between the other blog's followers and his own. He tried not to fan the flames, but sometimes the other blog would make such ridiculous claims he couldn't just sit by. 

He decided not to comment on this particular thread, closing his laptop with a sigh then rubbing his temple. Truthfully, he'd been avoiding his blog for the past week or so to try and keep himself from getting psyched out. His followers were making jokes about Yuuri failing, and spicykatsudon's followers kept setting ridiculously high expectations for him. He really didn't want to deal with either. 

This was his first real competition since Nationals last year. Sure, he'd skated in Onsen on Ice, but despite Victor's coaching being on the line, the pressure was not the same. It didn't matter that this was a regional competition and that he'd be the oldest and most experienced competitor; he was still terrified. If he failed here, he'd lose his shot at the GPF series. He'd lose his chance to redeem himself from last year. He'd lose Victor.

From his bed, Makkachin whined, seeming to sense Yuuri's distress. With a small smile, Yuuri rolled his computer chair from his desk to his bed so he could scratch the poodle behind her ears. Makka licked his hand, her tail thumping on the bed. It reminded him so much of how Vicchan used to comfort him that it made his heart clench.

With his eyes starting to sting, Yuuri scrambled onto the bed so he could spoon Makka and bury his face in her fur. She responded by rolling over on her back, smacking Yuuri with a paw as she begged for belly rubs. Yuuri chuckled and started scratching her chest. 

"You're such a good girl. You're the best girl. You know that?" Makka's tail wagged as Yuuri cooed at her. She pawed at Yuuri again when he briefly stopped the tummy rubs. 

A knock on the door interrupted the cuddle session, and Makka let out a small "boof". "Yuuri? Can I come in?" Victor's muffled voice carried through the door, and Makka's tail started wagging in full force. She still refused to roll off her back, enjoying the thorough belly scratching.

"Sure," Yuuri responded.

The door slowly opened, and Victor slipped inside. His eyes fell on Yuuri and Makka snuggling on the bed and he grinned, pulling out his phone. "Oh, you're both adorable! I need to take a picture of this!" 

Yuuri blushed, burying his face in Makka's fur to try to hide his rosy cheeks. He heard the sound of a phone camera, followed by Victor's happy cooing. 

"Can I post this on Instagram? This is too cute not to share!" 

Yuuri hesitated. He rarely posted pictures of himself, and he worried about what people would say about Victor posting a picture of his student in pajamas cuddling his dog. "Can I see it first?"

Victor nodded, and padded over to the bed, holding his phone out. Yuuri untangled himself from Makkachin, who finally gave up on her quest for belly rubs so she could jump on her owner. Victor laughed happily at her antics as Yuuri reviewed the picture. His face was mostly tucked into Makkachin's fur, but he could see part of a smile and a pinkened cheek still visible. He was snuggling Makka while she grinned upsidedown at the camera. Yuuri had to admit, the photo wasn't bad. Makka looked adorable, and most of his face wasn't visible. 

"Yeah ok. You can post it," Yuuri decided. 

Victor looked thrilled, taking the phone back from his student. "It'll be a great promotion for this weekend as well! I can remind everyone to support you at the competition." 

Yuuri flinched. "Do you really want to use a photo like that? It's not very professional." 

"So what? It's adorable! It will get people's attention," Victor argued. 

Yuuri bit his lip. He really didn't want Victor to remind people about the competition this weekend. He was hoping that maybe it would stay under the radar and there would be less pressure. It wasn't like he could tell Victor that, though. Victor got upset whenever Yuuri would vocally doubt his skating abilities or make self depreciating comments. He was probably worried about Yuuri making him look bad. 

"So," Victor started, "do you feel ready for this weekend?" He sat down in the chair that Yuuri had rolled over to his bed. Makkachin settled her head on her owner's lap but leaned into Yuuri on the bed. 

Yuuri smiled softly at the poodle and began gently running his finger's through her curls. "I guess. As ready as I'll ever be at least." He looked at Makka while he spoke, not wanting to look Victor in the eye. Yuuri was afraid if he made eye contact with Victor then all of his fears for the weekend would begin spilling out. Victor didn't need to hear any of that. Victor was his coach and his friend, but he definitely didn't have an interest in whatever storm was raging in Yuuri's mind. 

Victor hummed quietly. "If you skate like you have in practice, no one will be able to take their eyes off of you. I know I can't." 

Yuuri squeaked and leaned over to bury his face in Makka's fur again. His whole face was hot, and his heart was thumping in his chest. He still didn't know how to handle Victor complimenting him. Victor chuckled softly in response. 

"Yuuuuuri! Don't hide your face from me, I love it when you blush like that!" Victor's words did nothing to calm Yuuri's racing heart or heated cheeks. He peeked one eye out from his refuge in Makka's fur, and caught Victor staring at him with a gentle, fond expression. He felt like he was going to spontaneously combust. It wasn't the first time he'd seen that look on Victor's face, but it never failed to make his breath catch in his throat. When Victor looked at him like that Yuuri could almost convince himself that his affection might be returned. Almost. The anxiety and doubt would inevitably creep back in and remind him that there's no way Victor could ever be interested in someone like him. He must be projecting his desires and convincing himself that Victor could want him as more than a student. 

Yuuri's heart sank, reality setting back in. Victor was just trying to motivate him to skate well so he'd look like a good coach. He wasn't actually interested in Yuuri.  Yuuri squeezed his eyes shut against Makkachin's warm back, suddenly wishing the Russian skater would leave so he wouldn't see Yuuri's inevitable breakdown.

"Did I say something wrong?" Even with his eyes shut, Yuuri could tell Victor sounded upset. 

Shaking his head, Yuuri responded, "no. I'm just...nervous about this weekend." His words were muffled by Makka's fur, but Victor seemed to hear him.

"I thought so, that's why I came to check on you. I remember how worried you were before Onsen on Ice." Victor placed a hand on Yuuri's back and tried to rub soothing circles, but the contact just made the younger skater stiffen. It reminded Yuuri too much of how badly he wanted something more with Victor, and that he could never have it. Victor was an incredibly touchy and flirty person, and Yuuri certainly appreciated the attention, but he never took it seriously. Feeling Yuuri tense under his fingers, Victor reluctantly pulled his hand away.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and Yuuri was kicking himself for pushing Victor away again.  He could hear Makka breathing against him, the only one content with the current atmosphere. Yuuri envied the poodle, who had no idea how awkward the situation had become. She just seemed happy to be sitting with two of her favorite people. 

Yuuri wasn't sure how long the silence stretched on before he heard Victor sigh. "Yuuri..." Victor sounded like he wanted to say something else, but he just sighed again before standing up and padding back over to the door, gently moving Makka's head back onto the bed. From his view behind her fur, he could see Victor making a hand gesture for the poodle to stay.

"I'm sorry I disturbed you," Victor whispered as he pulled the door closed behind him. 

The room suddenly felt much colder without Victor, and Yuuri was furious with himself for chasing him away. Their relationship had come a long way from Yuuri not being able to form complete sentences around the older man, but he still felt like they were stagnating sometimes. For as much as Victor pushed him on the ice, the Russian had stopped pushing in their non-professional life early in his stay. Victor was handsy, and seemed to find any excuse to touch Yuuri, but it wasn't the same heavy flirtation as when he arrived. Yuuri didn't know how to interpret the change. He thought that Victor had been hoping for an easy lay and that he was disappointed when Yuuri didn't relent, but Victor never seemed bitter. He had never tried to guilt or pressure Yuuri into anything physical, despite his propensity for touch. No, all the touches were harmless, but they made Yuuri's heart flutter all the same. 

He knew Victor didn't find him completely repulsive, but he couldn't figure out exactly what the man wanted from him beyond a skating student. There was no way Victor was interested in anything romantic. A fling though? Maybe. Yuuri would be lying if he said the thought hadn't crossed his mind, but he knew he'd never act on that particular impulse. He didn't want an awkward one night stand, he wanted  _ more _ . He wanted  _ everything _ . 

Yuuri knew there was no way Victor felt the same. 

\-----------------------------------

Of course he had drawn first. The universe was determined to make his comeback as hard as possible, starting with the Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship.

Lamenting his bad luck, Yuuri didn't notice the enthusiastic teen excitedly vibrating beside him until the younger skater started chattering about watching Yuuri draw his spot. He had no idea who this kid was. Was he supposed to know? He thought he'd remember meeting someone as enthusiastic as Kenjirou Minami, but he couldn't remember.  

Yuuri did feel bad about not remembering Minami, but he really didn't have time to think about anyone else when he could barely keep his nerves from getting the best of him. 

It wasn't until later, after Victor chewed him out for not breaking 100 on his short program, that Yuuri realized where he knew Minami from. Unfortunately, the realization came with cameras and mics shoved in his face and a skater 6 years his junior challenging him. 

Nationals had been such a train wreck that Yuuri had tried to block all of the memories out. He barely remembered his own disastrous skate, let alone the teen that bested him. Now, the teen had issued a very public challenge, and Mooroka had loudly reminded everyone in the vicinity that Minami had beaten him the last time they skated against each other. Yuuri knew he shouldn't be worried, as his short program already had him in a solid lead, but the reminder of his previous failure was making his stomach clench. 

After the embarrassing callout by the younger skater, Yuuri tried to slink away as quickly as possible, grabbing a handful of Victor's expensive-looking suit to pull him away from the cameras. Victor mumbled a brief protest, stumbling behind Yuuri as he fled from the public eye. Yuuri could hear a few reporters trying to get his attention, likely hoping for a response to Minami's challenge. He refused to stop, keeping his head down and still dragging Victor behind him.

When Yuuri finally pushed his way into the locker room, he let out a sigh of relief. Releasing his hold on his coach, Yuuri got to work changing out of his costume. A few of the other skaters were milling around, but they were paying minimal attention to Yuuri. If anything, Victor was the one attracting attention. He was still dressed in his suit, and he looked damn good. Yuuri only wished he'd had time to appreciate Victor's choice of attire more. Yuuri's eyes flicked up to Victor, who caught his gaze and smiled brightly. Yuuri blushed, and dropped his gaze to his feet.

Victor cleared his throat. "Do you want me to help you with the zipper? I know it can be kind of tricky." 

Even if Victor was offering to help Yuuri in a professional capacity, the thought of the older man helping him take any part of his clothing off was making him feel flustered. "No! I'm fine. Just fine," Yuuri squeaked.  

To emphasize his point, Yuuri reached around to his back and tried to manipulate the zipper down. It wasn't like this was his first costume with a back facing zipper. Although Phichit would help Yuuri with some of his more intricate costumes, he was used to having to take most of them off himself. However, the zipper gave only a little before getting stuck at the base of his neck. Yuuri tried twisting and contorting to reach it, but it held fast. 

Yuuri caught sight of Victor, who was trying, and failing, to hide an amused grin. "Like I said, it can be kind of tricky." 

Biting his lip in contemplation, Yuuri finally relented and angled his back toward his coach. Victor got the hint right away, and moved to help his student remove the costume. Sure enough, the zipper pulled smoothly, revealing bare back. Yuuri shivered as Victor's fingers gently brushed his exposed skin.

"Um. Thanks," Yuuri squeaked. 

Mercifully, Victor took his hands off of Yuuri's back and stepped away. "No problem." The older man backed up to the lockers and leaned against them, pulling out his phone. He seemed to become engrossed in something right away, tapping quickly on his screen. 

By the time he was out of his costume and ready for dinner with his coach and his friends, Victor was just finishing up whatever he was working on. The first few minutes of walking from the locker room to meet their friends consisted of Victor typing away on his phone, but Yuuri didn't press, even though he was curious. Victor used his phone quite a lot, but rarely when they were doing anything official together. It was unusual to see him so fixated on something on the screen. However, it really wasn't any of his business, so Yuuri didn't pursue the issue. 

Dinner was uneventful, though by the time Yuuri and Victor parted ways to their separate hotel rooms, he was exhausted. The day had been draining, both physically and mentally. A quick shower helped his muscles, but his mind was still racing. 

In an attempt to distract himself, Yuuri opened up Tumblr. There were a few interesting posts that he liked and reblogged before starting a new post.

** golden-poodles ** posted:

_ Victor Nikiforov looks damn good in a suit _

__

_ I mean, I'm not surprised. I've said before that the man looks good in literally anything (or probably with nothing on at all...) but I don't think I've ever seen him dressed like this before. There's been a few magazine ads, which of course are amazing, but there's something different about seeing him wearing one live on tv as compared to in a magazine. Ughhh he's just so PERFECT. Seriously, how can a piece of clothing look so good???  _

__

_ And it just fits him so well. Of course, I'd expect nothing less than perfectly tailored from Victor. But still. It hugs him in all the right places but isn't too tight anywhere.  Oh god I'm so jealous of that suit getting to be so close to Victor's glorious body. I think it's safe to say he made an EXCELLENT debut as Katsuki's coach...  _

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who had thoughts about the competition today; spicykatsudon had posted about it too. Yuuri didn't follow the other blog, and he was honestly shocked neither of them had decided to block the other yet, but a few of the skating blogs that he followed would reblog spicykatsudon's posts on occasion. 

** spicykatsudon ** posted:

_ I had the chance to watch Yuuri's short program today :D _

__

_ I know I said I wouldn't be able to because of a work conflict, but I was able to work it out! Did anyone else get to watch it and see how amazing he was?! I knew he could do it! I'll admit the second half of the skate wasn't my favorite (he was trying to be too technical and it didn't flow as well as the first half) but it was still his personal best and a performance to be proud of. I can't wait to see how this skate looks at the GPF, because there's no doubt in my mind that he'll be able to get there. It's so bizarre to me that so many people discount Yuuri's skating because this program has such a high technical difficulty and he's on track to nail it as he peaks over the next few months. Hopefully everyone will be able to see what an incredible skater he really is. _

__

_ Can't wait to see his free skate tomorrow where hopefully he will...  _

** margs ** reblogged  ** spicykatsudon ** 's post and added:

_ Thanks to you posting that streaming link, I was able to watch it too! I feel like he was more technically solid than when he performed at Onsen on Ice, but I agree that some of the musicality wasn't as strong. Still though, it's early in the season and he's looking great!  _

_ Question: did I hear correctly that he's picturing a bowl of katsudon every time he skates this? I saw people posting that translation but I don't speak Japanese so I don't know if it's accurate. I mean, no judgement. If picturing a bowl of food can make someone look that sexy, I might need to rethink my own seduction strategies. I mean, katsuDAMN, am I right? _

Per usual, Yuuri didn't agree with the other blog's analysis. And really, did everyone think the second half of his performance was too stiff?! Victor already called him out for that, he didn't need strangers on the internet to do it too. Yuuri huffed, contemplating a rebuttal. 

In the end, he decided to leave spicykatsudon's post alone. As long as the other blogger didn't try to keep saying that Yuuri was a better skater than Victor, he could let it go. Even if he disagreed with the praise, he didn't feel like fighting it.

Yuuri still couldn't wrap his head around people being so enthused by his skating. Besides his close friends and family, who were pretty much obligated to say nice things about him, he had never experienced anyone being so enthusiastically complimentary about his skating ability. Victor was the exception, but half the time he was convinced that his coach just said nice things because he liked watching Yuuri squirm. And really, wouldn't he consider Victor one of his close friends at this point anyway? It's not like the man had any sense of professional boundaries. The surprise hug before his short program today had proven that, as well as his constant request to be seduced during Yuuri's Eros routine. That certainly was well beyond any professional relationship he'd had with his previous coach. 

Yuuri snorted at the thought of Celestino employing any of Victor's coaching methods. Celestino would have  never given Yuuri a sexy skating program like Eros, and he  _ certainly _ wouldn't have told his student to try and seduce him during said skate. The image was so laughable and awkward, Yuuri made a note to tell Phichit during their next Skype call. The Thai skater would definitely find the comparison hilarious. 

Still chuckling, Yuuri almost scrolled past a picture on Tumblr featuring an excitable Minami gawking at Yuuri during his short program. He registered the younger skater gaping at him from the audience with stars in his eyes, and was hit with a sudden realization: Minami was a fan. A  _ big _ fan if he had to guess. Was he a big enough fan to run a fan blog?

Yuuri quickly opened up spicykatsudon's blog, looking for anything identifying. The blog still looked the same as when it had appeared a few months ago, listing the blogger as Yuuri's "#1 fan". It didn't say anything about age, location, or profession though. Whoever was running the blog seemed to want to remain anonymous, just like Yuuri on his blog. 

The more he thought about it, the more confident he felt that it was Minami. spicykatsudon had said they had a "work conflict" today so they couldn't watch the competition. That was Yuuri's excuse for why he could never watch his own skates live. Then, the blogger had said they were able to "work it out" so they could watch Yuuri's skate. It could make sense that Minami had found time to blog after his skate, and Yuuri knew that Minami had watched his skate from start to finish.

Minami called him an "amazing skater" and said that the younger skater "looked up to him". It did seem to be similar to how he felt about Victor, and Yuuri certainly had been motivated enough to make a fan blog based on those feelings, so why wouldn't Minami? It made so much sense, it couldn't possibly be anyone else. It's not like there could possibly be a second person out there who was as enthusiastic about Yuuri's skating as Minami was, right?

\-----------------------------------

After his revelation that Kenjirou Minami was most likely spicykatsudon on Tumblr, Yuuri had made the decision not to confront him until after the free skate. His nerves were already bad enough, so he didn't need to add an awkward confrontation on top of everything else. Instead, Yuuri decided to just focus completely on himself in the time leading up to the free skate. He really didn't need to think about all of the thirsty posts Minami had made as spicykatsudon, nor all the posts trashing Victor. Nope, he was definitely not going to think about a bubbly 17 year old making an entire post dedicated to fawning over Yuuri's butt.

Yuuri did feel a little guilty ignoring Minami before the free skate, but he quickly brushed that feeling off. This was the first time he'd be performing his free skate in public. Whatever he did next would reflect on Victor. It could make or break his ticket to the GPF series. He didn't have any extra time nor energy to devote to Kenjirou Minami.

He had done a good job not letting any of his external thoughts cloud his mind, at least until Victor admonished him for ignoring Minami during the warm up. It wasn't like he could tell Victor what was going on! No, he would never say anything to his coach that might lead to the discovery of his fan blog. He'd never survive the embarrassment of Victor seeing what horny teenage (and adult) Yuuri wrote about him.

With Victor sulking in the stands, Yuuri was left to finish warming up and stretching on by himself. He was vaguely aware of Minami's name being announced, taking the ice for his free skate. 

It wasn't like he was purposefully trying to hurt Minami's feelings! He just couldn't deal with someone else's emotions on top of his own.  _ He should've picked a better idol than someone as weak and pathetic as me. _ It was inevitable that he'd only end up disappointing his biggest fan. 

Yuuri caught Minami's eyes from the center of the ice as he was turning to find a private warm up spot. He had expected the younger skater to look angry or disappointed, but he just looked hurt. Minami looked like a kicked puppy, and Yuuri realized what an absolute ass he'd been. It didn't matter if he didn't understand why Minami looked up to him. It didn't matter if he ran an overly enthusiastic fan blog. Yuuri was being dismissive of his feelings, and he was in the wrong.

Really, Minami's admiration for Yuuri wasn't that different from his own admiration for Victor. How would he have felt if Victor had treated Yuuri like this as the GPF in Sochi? He would have been devastated! Even after Yuuri's disastrous free skate, Victor had still offered to take a photo with him. He'd been too ashamed to accept, of course, but it didn't change the fact that his idol had acknowledged him. After the start of their budding friendship, Victor had confessed that he thought Yuuri looked sad and knew he was a fan so he offered the photo-op to try and cheer him up. Victor was always nice to his fans, even Minako said so.  And really, wasn't he being a hypocrite for being upset over a couple of thirst posts? Yuuri could write a novel with all of the borderline inappropriate posts he made about Victor! 

Calling out to Minami to encourage him felt like the right thing to do, and judging by the younger skater's responding open-mouthed smile and happy tears, it was well-received. The teen started his skate with a wide grin on his face and an air of excitement surrounding him. Minami's program was entertaining, and he showed a lot of promise as a young skater. He would definitely be someone to watch in the next few years. Feeling more at ease, Yuuri walked away from the sounds of clapping and upbeat music to give himself time to stretch and gear up for his skate. 

After giving Minami a firm slap on the back before taking the ice himself, Yuuri was sure he'd made an impression on the teen. If that didn't do it, judging from the awestruck expression on Minami's face, watching Victor put chapstick on him did it just fine.

The free skate itself went surprisingly well, considering his face had become intimately acquainted with the boards. After the initial stiffness of the first half of the program, he felt like it really flowed, and he didn't even care that he didn't land all of his jumps. He had fun, and he couldn't remember the last time that had happened in a competition. It stung a little that Victor let him fall when Yuuri tried to jump into his arms, but his coach insisted it was because he didn't want blood on his suit and not because he was disappointed with Yuuri's performance. 

Almost as soon as he stepped off the ice, Minami was in his face raving about how much he loved Yuuri's performance. The other young skaters quickly joined him, all holding out pens and paper for autographs. Feeling self-conscious with bloody tissues stuffed up his nose and his sweaty hair plastered to his forehead, Yuuri reluctantly accepted and did his best to write encouraging messages to the teenagers. Victor patted him on the back with a proud smile before leaving Yuuri alone with the small group of teens.

"I can't believe I got to watch you skate in person! This is such a dream come true! You're even more amazing than I thought you'd be, and I thought you'd be amazing, but I never could have imagined this you're just so incredible and talented and your free skate was so beautiful and I just know you're going to win this season because no one could possibly match your level of genius!" Minami was vibrating with excitement again, sticking close to Yuuri even as the other skaters retreated back to their coaches and families. 

Yuuri rubbed his arm awkwardly as Minami turned into the living embodiment of a run-on sentence. It really was flattering having such a dedicated fan, but he still wasn't sure how to handle it. "Uh, thank you for the support. It means a lot."

"Of course! How could I not support an amazing skater like you? I've loved your skating since your junior days! You're just such an inspiration! I want to skate against you again someday!" Minami was looking at him with stars in his eyes.

He really was like Yuuri, wanting to skate against his idol. "I'm sure you will. I can tell you're going to be a top contender. You skated really well too, I was definitely impressed." Yuuri smiled genuinely. He wasn't trying to butter Minami up, he really believed the teen would have a strong presence in the skating world in the years to come.

Minami made an inhuman squealing sound, tears pouring out of his eyes. "Ohmygosh that means so much coming from you! Wow, not only are you amazing and talented, you're super nice too! You're. So. Incredible." 

The teen seemed to be short circuting, but at least he was happy. Yuuri couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the younger skater's excitement. It really was flattering hearing someone gush about how great you are, even if he didn't really feel like the praise was deserved. 

As Minami continued to praise Yuuri and babble about his favorites of Yuuri's skating programs, Yuuri was reminded of a few of spicykatsudon's posts. A knot formed in his stomach as he remembered that he still needed to confront Minami. He had decided he wouldn't ask the teen to stop blogging, but he would like him to stop trashing Victor so much. 

Yuuri waited until Minami was done re-enacting the choreography from Yuuri's short program 3 years ago (apparently his favorite) before interrupting. "Hey, Minami. Can I ask you a question?" 

Grinning, the teen nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! You can ask me anything!"

"I know you're a fan so I was just wondering..." He really wasn't sure the best way to ask this.

"Wondering what?" Minami cocked his head, looking a little like Makkachin. 

"Do you...um...I mean have you..."

"Do I what?" 

_ Just spit it out! _ "Do you run a fan blog about me?"

Minami blinked at him, gaping. Yuuri was worried for a moment that he had said the wrong thing, when suddenly Minami shrieked and whipped his phone out. "That's such a great idea, why haven't I thought of that?!" He began frantically typing something on his phone. "I have sooooo many pictures and videos that I've collected that I could blog about! Oh!" He grinned at Yuuri. "Can we take a picture? Or 5? Or maybe 10? It would be a great start!" 

Yuuri's jaw hung open, his brain trying to catch up to the fast talking and the phone being shoved in his face. Minami...wasn't spicykatsudon? How was that possible? There was no way he had  two fans this interested in him!  

"Wait, hold on! You don't already run one?" Yuuri asked, disbelieving. 

Minami pulled his phone away, looking a little confused. "No, but it's a great idea! Why do you ask?"

"Well..." Yuuri glanced over to his jacket, which Victor had left laying over the boards. He fished his phone out and opened up Tumblr. Did he really want to tell Minami about this? It would probably just encourage the younger skater.  _ Well, he's probably going to find out eventually if he really starts a fan blog. _

Sighing in defeat, Yuuri tapped on spicykatsudon's blog and handed his phone to Minami. "There's this blog on Tumblr that seems to be...a fan. I just figured it had to be you."

Minami's eyes widened as he scrolled on Yuuri's phone. "Ohmygosh. I have to follow this blog!" He typed on his phone with one hand, glancing between Yuuri's phone and his own. 

Once it seemed that Minami had the information he needed, Yuuri quickly snatched his phone back. Minami barely noticed, sticking his tongue out as he continued to tap on his phone. He gasped suddenly, surprising Yuuri enough to make him flinch.

"I didn't see what your blog was called!" He looked at Yuuri expectantly. 

Yuuri winced. It was one thing if Minami was going to blog about him and follow in spicykatsudon's footsteps, but it was another to let him see the negative posts he made about himself. "Ah, sorry, but I don't like to give my Tumblr out to people. It's honestly not very interesting anyway, and I'd rather keep it private."

Minami gave him a confused look, scrunching his eyebrows. "Is it NSFW? I promise I won't judge you for liking weird porn." 

Waving his arms frantically, Yuuri denied the allegation. "No, nothing like that, I swear! I just like to remain anonymous. I'm just a private person, that's all."

"Oh. I guess I can understand that." Minami looked disappointed.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Yuuri smiled and offered, "do you still want those photos?" 

Minami's eyes lit up, a grin stretching across his face, and all seemed forgiven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have a lot of thoughts about poodles, if you didn't notice. 
> 
> Separated the press conference out because let's be honest, there would be a massive social media storm after Yuuri declared his love for Victor on live television. We're gonna need time to delve into that!


	4. Ship Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are heating up in the skating fandom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry that this is shorter, but I didn't want you guys to have to wait any longer. I had this super big life thing happen: I started my clinical year of veterinary school! What that means for all of you, dear readers, is that my schedule is a giant mess from now until I graduate. So expect updates to continue to be sporadic.

**spicykatsudon**  posted:

_Does anyone have a translation of Yuuri's press conference??? My Japanese isn't very good so I couldn't understand most of what he was saying._

**InquisitiveMoth** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Yeah, here's an English translation!  I'd be curious to hear your thoughts! _

**margs** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Damn. Need to get me a man that talks about me the way Katsuki talks about Nikiforov. Are they dating?_

**InquisitiveMoth**   reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_ikr?!? Not sure if they're dating though. I haven't heard anything official but maybe @ **spicykatsudon**   has? They're usually pretty up to date on all the newest Yuuri news.  _

**cupromantic** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_LOL they're definitely not dating. Ew. Nikiforov can do way better, and he knows it. No way he'd settle for a loser like Katsuki._  

**Droewyn** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Uh, Yuuri is a catch! Victor would be lucky to get some of that ass! Also don't act like it's so hard to believe. Didn't you see that hug at regionals? Or  this picture Victor posted on Insta of Yuuri snuggling his poodle?  Seems a little beyond the normal coach/student relationship if you ask me._

**Zupsgirl1** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_@ **Droewyn**   yaaaaaaas I ship it! #Victuuri _

**LocallyGrownAvocado** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_@ **Droewyn**   @ **Zupsgirl1** don't ship real people it's creepy. _

**Zupsgirl1** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_You're just jealous cuz Victor's getting a taste of that juicy katsudon  ¯\\_ (ツ)_/¯_

Yuuri dropped his phone in shock. The elderly woman sitting across from him on the train gave him a dirty look before turning her gaze back to her book. He muttered an apology as he leaned over to recover his phone.

His embarrassing declaration at the press conference was bad enough, but now people were talking about him and Victor dating?! Victor would probably be horrified if he knew! Fortunately, the press conference was in Japanese, and Victor's Japanese didn't go too far beyond basic conversation and "can I pet your dog?" Yuuri could only hope that no one had translated his speech. He also had to hope that Victor didn't pay attention to the skating fandom. Apparently he liked to argue with strangers on the internet about poodles, but Yuuri didn't know what other online interests his coach had. 

With a groan, Yuuri re-opened Tumblr to continue finding out how much damage he had done with his speech. There were a few posts here and there about his performance at the CSK Championships, as well as some gif-sets floating around of him smashing his face into the barrier. There were also a number of gifs of him and Victor interacting during the competition. It was mostly variations of Victor's surprise hug, but the Chapstick application was fairly popular too. Yuuri hadn't realized anyone was filming that particular moment, but clearly the fans noticed. Each set of gifs was tagged #Victuuri.

Yuuri groaned again, and prayed to whatever deity was listening that Victor wouldn't see this embarrassment. The last thing he wanted was to ruin their friendship or their professional relationship with a fake awkward romance. 

Unsurprisingly, Minami had made himself an active member of the skating community on Tumblr. Yuuri noticed "katsuki-fan1129" reblogging and commenting on many of the posts about the weekend's competition, as well as spicykatsudon's posts. 

**katsuki-fan1129** posted:

_[image description: a selfie of a grinning Minami, staring up at Yuuri with wide, star-struck eyes. Yuuri, with tissues stuffed up his nose, is smiling softly beside him]_

__

_I got to meet Yuuri this weekend and he was so amazing!!!! I knew he would be amazing but he was so much more AMAZING in person! I can't believe I got to watch him skate he's such an inspiration. I got his autograph too! And a bunch of pictures! He was soooooooo nice! Everyone always says not to meet your idols but they clearly had the wrong idols because Yuuri was so INCREDIBLE! I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and meet him over and over and over..._

Yuuri winced at Minami's enthusiastic raving, but he did also feel a little proud to have made the younger skater so happy. Minami clearly didn't care about anonymity, having posted a picture with his full face. The younger skater didn't have the same following as an older skater with a bigger international presence, but there were quite a few comments on Minami's posts identifying him from the weekend's competition. 

Phichit had also reblogged a bunch of posts with #Victuuri, and contributed a few gifs of his own. 

**HamStar** posted:

_[gif description: Victor surprising Yuuri with a hug from behind just before Yuuri's free skate. The gif ends on Yuuri's surprised face, Victor's eyes starting to open slowly over his student's shoulder]_

__

_I am captain of this ship! #Victuuri_

Yuuri made a mental note to kill Phichit next time they saw each other.

With a pained groan that caused the book-reading woman to huff at him, Yuuri resumed his scrolling. There were more posts about his skating, some praising him, others criticizing him. Many of them were asking for golden-poodles' opinion. Just as he was about to post his own response, Yuuri noticed that spicykatsudon had posted a reaction to his press conference. He must have seen the translation.

Biting his lip, Yuuri debated reading the post. He had been trying to avoid an all-out fandom war with the other blog, and he could only assume spicykatsudon was going to post something he'd disagree with, but he couldn't deny his curiosity. There was a small part of him that did enjoy the praise, but it was drowned out by his self-doubt. Plus, it was nearly impossible to avoid the other blog's activity, since his followers were constantly tagging him on spicykatsudon's posts. He would likely see it eventually, so it wouldn't hurt to get it over with now, right?

**spicykatsudon** posted:

_Wow, I had no idea Yuuri felt that way about Victor! He's the cutest <3 <3 <3 @ **margs** no, they're not dating, but Victor would be lucky to be with Yuuri. I'm sure he wishes he and Yuuri were together. Hopefully someday ^_^ I bet Victor will be so happy when he hears what Yuuri said! They would make such a gorgeous couple, I really hope they get together soon! #Victuuri   _

_@ **HamStar** great gifset! Yuuri looks so adorable :D  _

_4,500 notes_

Yuuri did a double-take.  _4 500 notes?!?_  There were that many people that wanted him and Victor to get together? That couldn't be right! Some of the notes had to be people disagreeing with spicykatsudon...right? He skimmed through the notes to test his theory, but most of the comments were positive. A few of golden-poodles's recognizable followers had responded negatively, but most of the posts were tagged #Victuuri. 

It was one thing to see people claiming Yuuri was the better skater, but implying Victor would want to date him was another matter. This was just getting ridiculous, any sane person would have to know that Victor was way out of his league. Also, it wasn't fair to Victor, since he wasn't able to defend himself and tell people that he and Yuuri were just friends. Yuuri would just have to set them straight himself.

**golden-poodles** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Are you crazy? Victor would never date a dime-a-dozen loser like Yuuri! Didn't you see his free skate at the CSK Championships? He was about as graceful as a baby deer out there! I'm sure I don't have to point out the obvious flub:_

_[gif description: a short, repeating clip of Yuuri smashing his face into the barrier]_

__

_If Victor had any feelings for Yuuri, I'm sure they're long gone after seeing that disaster. Besides, they've been basically living together for months, which means Victor's seen all of Yuuri's weird quirks and is probably sick of him by now. Trust me, everything is super platonic between them._

__

_Victor wouldn't be happy to hear what Yuuri said, he'd be horrified! Having your student (who you have zero feelings for) confess his attraction at a press conference on national television? Unprofessional, and probably super uncomfortable for Victor. I just hope he never gets a translation so he can be spared from the awkwardness of knowing that his student is totally in love with him. I mean really, what was Katsuki thinking?! The word vomit just wouldn't stop. I actually felt bad for him up there._

Yuuri finished his post just in time as the train approached his stop. He gathered up his belongings, trying to ignore the "good riddance" he swore he heard from the woman across from him as he vacated his seat. 

\-----------------------------------

An excited yip greeted Yuuri as he stepped through the entrance of Yu-topia. He called a quick greeting to his family as he was bowled over by 55lbs of enthusiastic poodle, his glasses thrown askew by a slobbery tongue. 

"Makka! Take it easy, I haven't been gone that long," he playfully chided the poodle. She wagged her tail and woofed in response. Yuuri chuckled, patting Makka on the head as he pulled himself back onto his feet. It was nice having a dog around again, even if Makka was much more of a bulldozer than Vicchan ever was. She was surprisingly spritely for such an old dog. 

"Yuuri!" his mother called from across the room. "Welcome back! How was the trip?"

He gave Makka one last pat before crossing the room to embrace his mother. "Uneventful, fortunately. I think I'm a little stiff after the train ride, though." 

Hiroko nodded in understanding, releasing him from the hug and ushering him toward the dining area. "You must be tired and sore. I think you definitely need a bowl of katsudon and a warm bath!" Makka happily padded after the pair, her nails clinking on the floor. 

Yuuri's stomach grumbled at the mention of his favorite food, his mother chuckling knowlingly. "Well...I guess one bowl would be ok."

Hiroko tsked at him. "One bowl? You won! Eat as many bowls as you want!" She pat his cheek affectionately before bounding into the kitchen, humming a tune that sounded suspiciously like his short program. 

 

There was no point in arguing, so Yuuri made himself comfortable in the dining area while his mother worked on getting a bowl of katsudon ready for him. It was late, and he knew the only reason she was up was so she could greet him when he arrived home. The rest of his family, and Victor, must be asleep. Yuuri couldn't help but feel a little hurt that his coach hadn't stayed up to wait for him. Before they parted for the press conference, Victor had claimed he wanted to celebrate together.

Maybe he had gotten a translation of the press conference and was busy trying to avoid his lovesick student. Yuuri couldn't blame him, Victor must be horrified. He buried his face in his hands, groaning for the umpteenth time at how ridiculous he felt for blurting out his feelings on live television. 

Makka placed a paw on his knee, whining at Yuuri's distress. He smiled warmly and ruffled her silky curls, receiving a playful nip in return. Yuuri chuckled at her antics, riling her up even more by playing with her ears.

"Yuuri," he heard his mother chastise. "Don't get her too excited. It's late and the guests are asleep." She gave him a sharp look, setting down the bowl of katsudon in front of him. 

"Sorry," Yuuri apologized sheepishly. She ruffled the hair on both their heads affectionately, signaling that she wasn't truly upset. 

He ate his food in silence, sneaking scraps to Makka while his mother wasn't looking. She would always yell at him about feeding Makka from the table, even though he saw her do the same while she was cooking. He just couldn't resist those puppy dog eyes. Makkachin might have started off as just Victor's dog, but she had quickly become adopted by all of the Katsukis. 

Once he had finished, his mother returned to clear his dish, striking up a conversation. "Oh Yuuri, we were so proud of you this weekend! You and Vicchan really put together a wonderful program! We should put that award in the display with the others. Maybe next to a photo of you and Vicchan together."

Yuuri blushed, both at the praise and at the suggestion. "Er, that's alright. It wasn't a big deal. And I'm sure Victor wouldn't want his name attached to something so silly, anyway."

Hiroko scoffed. "Considering it was his suggestion, I don't think he would have a problem with it."

He blinked in surprise. "Victor wants to display my award from a regional competition?"

"Of course he does! He's very proud of you too," she stated matter-of-factly, while giving her son an exasperated look. 

"He said that?"

Hiroko nodded. "Yes, many times. All Vicchan could talk about when he got back was how proud he was and how good you looked out there. He kept saying that he knows you will get gold."

Yuuri was speechless. It was one thing for Victor to say things in front of Yuuri to motivate him, but to say it in front of his family when he wasn't there? Did Victor really believe in Yuuri's skating that much? He always said he did, but Yuuri could never quite believe he was serious. 

"Did he say anything else?" Yuuri asked nervously, referring more to the press conference than the competition.

His mother seemed to pick up on what he was asking. "Vicchan's Japanese is still a work in progress. He did make a comment about not liking your tie, though." 

Yuuri sighed in relief. At least he hadn't acted disgusted or stormed out. He could deal with his coach living in ignorance of what he had confessed. But really, his tie, of all things? "What's wrong with my tie?" he asked with a frown.

Hiroko just patted his cheek again, then picked up his bowl and started walking back toward the kitchen. "Vicchan wanted to wait for you to come home too," she called from the kitchen. "I kicked him out because he was getting too fussy about something on his phone. You might want to check in on him before you go to bed, I'm sure he's still awake." 

Yuuri nodded, and thanked his mother for the meal before heading off toward his and Victor's rooms. Makka padded happily beside him. He couldn't stop thinking about what his mother had said about Victor being proud of him. It made him feel giddy, like he was floating instead of walking, and being drawn toward the man himself. Yuuri found himself outside Victor's door without really remembering how he got there.  

As his mother expected, Victor's light was still on and Yuuri could hear the soft sounds of a video or movie playing from behind the door. Yuuri called out quietly, just in case Victor had fallen asleep while waiting. "Victor? Are you still up?"

The video sounds stopped, and Yuuri heard a few thumps and shuffles coming toward the door. Makka wagged her tail in anticipation. The door slid open, revealing a grinning Victor, clad in nothing but dark gray sleep pants. Yuuri blushed at the sight of his coach's bare chest, barely keeping himself from drooling.

_Why does he have to be so attractive?!_

Victor didn't seem to notice where his student's eyes were wandering. He just continued grinning, before pulling Yuuri into a tight embrace. Yuuri yelped in surprise, trying to figure out an appropriate place to put his hands on his idol's half-naked body. He finally settled on Victor's midback, sighing contentedly at the feeling of soft, warm skin under his hands and the subtle scent of minerals from the onsen filling his nose. Victor was holding him tight, and Yuuri probably should have felt uncomfortable at how long the hug went on. But he didn't. He just felt like he was home. 

"You're back!" Victor pulled back from the hug, his hands still on Yuuri's shoulders and his grin never fading. 

Yuuri couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face to match. It was hard to remember what he had been so worried about now that they were face-to-face again. When Victor smiled like that, one of his real smiles, Yuuri swore he could shine brighter than the sun. 

"You waited up for me?" 

Victor nodded. "Of course! I said I would, didn't I?" He ushered Yuuri into his room. "Come in, I got you a present!"

"You didn't have to do that," Yuuri protested. 

Victor ignored him. "I wanted to get you a little something to congratulate you. I'm sure you've had katsudon by now but, I hope you have room for something else!" He dug through a plastic bag, pulling out a small, cylindrical object and handing it to Yuuri. 

Yurri accepted the object, his brows furrowing in confusion. Victor had handed him a tin can labeled "Canned Platypus--Outback Fresh!" It was a weird gift, a really weird gift, and Yuuri wasn't sure what to say. He inspected the contents to look for any clues, but found nothing but a short paragraph about platypus farming and the phrase "Monotrem-endous taste!"

"Uh, thanks?" He didn't want to be rude to Victor, who was still grinning at him, but there was no way he was going to eat canned platypus. 

"Well? Aren't you going to try some?" Victor batted his eyelashes at Yuuri, trying to get him to cave. In any other scenario, it would have worked. Yuuri would have taken one look at Victor's puppy dog eyes (which were a very good impression of Makka's) and done whatever he'd been asked. But he was not going to eat canned platypus, no matter how cute Victor looked when he pouted. 

"Er, I just ate. My mom gave me a big bowl of katsudon. I don't have room for anything else." He pat his belly dramatically, sticking it out a little for effect. 

Victor pouted, and dammit it was just as cute as Yuuri remembered. "But Yuuri, I picked this out specially for you! Don't you like it?" 

Yuuri's parents had raised him to be polite and courteous. He could practically hear their voices in his head berating him for trying to reject a gift. Plus, Victor was playing up the pout, pulling Makka next to him to double the effect. They were both blinking at him with big, round eyes, and Yuuri knew he'd lost. 

"I'd love anything you got for me. Thank you, I really appreciate you thinking of me." Yuuri gulped. "Of course I'll try some." He did his best not to grimace. Victor seemed delighted. 

With a sigh, Yuuri slowly began popping the top open, bracing himself for whatever he would find inside. As soon as the lid popped, something small and furry launched at him from the can, causing Yuuri to yelp and drop the contents onto the floor. Victor burst out laughing, holding Makka's collar so she wouldn't eat whatever had just popped out of the can. 

Yuuri blinked at his coach, trying to process what just happened. He inspected the contents of the can, which was now sitting on the floor. It was a small stuffed platypus with brown fur and a dark beak and feet. Thankfully, there was no platypus meat. Yuuri picked up the toy and scrutinized it. It was kind of cute, but he was still confused, and Victor was still laughing. Yuuri gaped at him.

It took a few moments for Victor to compose himself, and even once he did he kept hiccuping out a few giggles. "Oh Yuuri, you should have seen your face when I handed you that can!" 

"I...what?" 

Victor chuckled. "You looked horrified, but you were trying so hard to be polite. It was cute." 

Yuuri was so confused, he was able to ignore the part where Victor had just called him cute. "I don't get it." 

Releasing Makka, who immediately bolted to Yuuri and snatched the empty can off the floor, Victor padded over to Yuuri and threw an arm around him. "It's a joke. Because you like platypuses so much. I found it online, and thought it would be funny to prank you with it."

"Why do you think that I like platy--oh! Oh right! Yeah, I love platypuses. Haha, very funny, Victor." Yuuri had almost forgotten that he told Victor he was really interested in monotremes. He had hoped Victor would have just let it go, but of course he had no such luck. 

Victor's smile faltered. "Was it too much? I'm sorry Yuuri, I just thought it would be a harmless, funny prank."

Yuuri's heart almost broke at how nervous Victor suddenly seemed. "No! It's fine, really!" He smiled reassuringly. "I'm just tired from the trip home, and it went over my head a bit. It is funny. You got me. Plus," he gestured to the stuffed platypus, "it's kind of cute." 

The Russian's smile returned, and he embraced Yuuri again. Yuuri pat his arm reassuringly, feeling less awkward than the first hug. 

"I'm glad you like it," he said happily. 

Victor might be "Living Legend Victor Nikiforov", but he was also "just Victor", Yuuri's friend that sang off-key show tunes and derailed conversations to run across the street to pet a dog. And apparently, he liked to pull platypus-related pranks. Yuuri couldn't help but smile fondly. Even though the platypus thing had been made up on the spot, it did warm his heart to know that Victor had remembered that detail and even bought him a gift related to his "interest". 

Why had he been so worried about seeing Victor? Clearly everything was fine.

\-----------------------------------

Everything was not fine.

Yuuri's response to spicykatusdon seemed to have triggered an all out war between the other blog's followers and his own. Blogs were calling each other out and engaging in paragraphs of arguments. A few were even threatening to doxx each other. 

**InquisitiveMoth** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post (Wow! I had no idea...) and added:

_@ **golden-poodles** wtf is your problem with Yuuri Katsuki anyway? I bet you can't even skate, so who are you to say such awful things about his skating? And anyway, if you don't like his skating, fine. But quit calling him names and trying to put him down. That's just mean! You can kindly fuck off.  _

**Zupsgirl1** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_PREACH! I'm so sick of seeing this asshole bashing our sweet cinnamon roll all the time._

**snarkonice** reblogged  s **picykatsudon** 's post and added:

_No one is bashing him, @ **golden-poodles** is just stating obvious facts. Victor Nikiforov is like a 12/10, and Yuuri Katsuki is...not. Victor has been on the cover of a bunch of beauty magazines and was voted "Most Eligable Bachelor" multiple times. His cologne commercials could turn a straight boy gay! I'm not saying Yuuri is bad looking but, come on. He's not even close to being in the same league as Victor.   _

**cupromantic** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_lol forget being in the same league, they're not even playing the same sport! (also literally--see @ **golden-poodles** 's breakdown of the ridiculous scoring differences between Katsuki and Nikiforov) _

**niki-niki**   reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Vitya isn't even gay. He dated that female model 5 or 6 years ago, remember?_

**lisettola**   reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_@ **niki-niki**   Bisexual people exist you absolute kumquat!   _

**Fairy-Bookewyrme**   reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_@ **snarkonice** @ **cupromantic** those are just opinions, not facts! I happen to think Yuuri is hot af. And Victor clearly does too. Who platonically gives someone a sexy skating program and a sexy bondage-inspired skating costume? No one, that's who. That's obviously code for "take me now".  _

**snarkonince** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Uh yeah it's my opinion, and the opinion of a bunch of magazine editors and sports fans that voted for him??? Are Katsuki fans too dumb to read or something?_  

**Droewyn** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Are you really gonna be like that? Fuck off._  

**spicykatsudon** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Stop being mean to Yuuri!!!! He doesn't deserve to be treated like that by people who claim to be figure skating fans. Shame on you all!_   

**cupromantic** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_oh grow up! Are you really gonna sit here and complain about us being "mean" because you don't like what we have to say? Just accept that a. Yuuri Katsuki is a mediocre skater and b. Victor Nikiforov is WAY too good for him._  

**spicykatsudon** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_Excuse me @ **cupromantic** you have it backwards! Yuuri is far too good for Victor! He's cute (and sexy when he wants to be--see my favorite compilation of   Eros Yuuri  ), kind (see Yuuri  taking time to talk to younger skaters  at the CSK Championships ), talented (see my   analysis  on why Yuuri Katsuki will surpass Victor Nikiforov in the next 1-2 years), and did I mention cute: _

__

_[image description: Yuuri laughing brightly, his eyes closed and crinkled at the corners. He is leaning on the barrier in front of the Detroit River with a dollop of chocolate ice cream on his nose]_

**Zupsgirl1** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_omg he's such a precious bean!_

**snarkonice** reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_"Precious bean"? Really? You think that's any comparison with this:_

_[image description: a professional black and white photo of Victor from a magazine photo shoot. He is shirtless and winking at the camera with his jeans unbuttoned and underwear just barely visible underneath. One hand is behind his head, the other trailing suggestively low on his stomach.]_

**spicykatsudon**   reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_@ **snarkonice**   you know those kind of photos are photshopped, right? Victor isn't actually that flawless in real life. Yuuri, on the other hand, looks that good all the time! _

**lisettola**   reblogged  **spicykatsudon** 's post and added:

_lol like you would know. You're obviously bffs with them, right?_ 🙄

Yuuri continued to scroll through the increasingly long reblogs and replies, groaning at how out of control everything had gotten. He never meant to make his and Victor's fans hate each other, he just wanted a place to vent about his insecurities. Instead, he apparently started a fandom war. Honestly, he was shocked that people cared about him enough to get this fired up. 

He did have 10,000 followers, though, and many of them had been with him for years, so he probably shouldn't be surprised that some of them were ready to throw down for him. Yuuri felt like he should appreciate the loyalty of his followers, except for the fact that they followed him because he bashed his own skating and made fun of himself. 

It was almost tempting to end the entire charade. Almost. What was he supposed to do, post a selfie and tell all 10,000 of his followers that he had been lying to them for years? And that he was the person that they had been roasting over and over? That was not likely to go well. 

Yuuri sighed, rolling over in his bed to spoon his pillow and clutch the stuffed platypus Victor had gotten him. Yesterday had gone so well. Victor didn't try to bring up the press conference, and the two of them had spent the night curled up against each other in Victor's bed, watching skating videos. Or at least, it started as skating videos. Victor had been reviewing recordings of Yuuri's skates from the weekend and Onsen on Ice before Yuuri came home. Yuuri wasn't ready to go to bed, so Victor invited him in to stay and review videos together. That evolved into watching videos of other skaters to "research the competition", which evolved into watching compilations of figure skating fails (Yuuri winced every time he saw himself in one), which somehow evolved into watching cute dog videos. They had started off just sitting next to each other, but slowly kept gravitating closer until Victor's head was on Yuuri's shoulder and their legs were tangled together underneath Makka. 

As much as he hadn't wanted it to come to an end, spending the night in his coach's bed didn't seem appropriate, so he reluctantly said goodnight to Victor sometime around 2 or 3 in the morning. Yuuri almost swore he saw Victor pouting when he left, but he was sure that it was just his imagination projecting his own emotions onto Victor. 

They decided to take the day off since they had stayed up so late, so Yuuri was trying to enjoy a relaxing morning. All of the Tumblr drama was kind of putting a damper on his good mood. He might as well try to settle everyone down. 

**golden-poodles** posted:

_A Response to the Current Skating Fandom Discourse_

_Hey everyone, I think things are getting out of hand. I haven't been quiet about how much I dislike Yuuri Katsuki, but I never meant to start so much drama. I am still adament about the fact that Victor is a far superior skater, and so far out of Katsuki's league. My opinions (which are based on BASIC FACTS btw) won't change, but I think it's pretty safe to say that Yuuri and Victor wouldn't want us fighting about them. They've been trying really hard to present themselves as a team this season, so I doubt they would want to see their fans fighting about them. So let's just all agree to disagree, alright?_

Feeling satisfied with his brief response, Yuuri went back to spooning his pillow and lazily scrolling through his dashboard. Minami had posted a few training videos, and Phichit had posted pictures of his hamsters. Yuuri reblogged them both. Phichit's hamsters didn't really fit with his blog theme, but the Thai skater didn't keep his social media a secret like Yuuri did, so most skating fans would recognize them. Plus, they were adorable. 

Once he reached the end of the new content, he refreshed his dash. Yuuri was surprised to see that spicykatsudon had already responded to his post. Bracing himself for the worst, Yuuri began to read other blog's response.

**spicykatsudon** reblogged your post and added:

_For once, I can agree with you on something. You're right that Victor and Yuuri have been working very hard to show that they are a team._

_You're wrong about everything else though. And if you think for one second that Victor would be ok with how you and your followers talk about Yuuri, then you don't actually know anything about him. He hasn't exactly been subtle about how much he cares about Yuuri. Do you think he likes seeing you trash talking him? Would YOU sit there and just let someone you cared about be talked about like that? With the way you constantly feel the need to defend Victor Nikiforov, I'm guessing the answer is no._

__

_So no, @ **golden-poodles** we can't just agree to disagree. However, if you ever actually realize what a tremendous ass you've been, I'll be ready to accept your apology. _ 

Yuuri stared at his phone in disbelief. spicykatsudon had completely disregarded his attempts at a peacful resolution. And called him an ass.

"Oh, hell no," Yuuri muttered to himself. He was not going to sit here and take that.

**golden-poodles** reblogged  **golden-poodles** 's post and added:

_Wow, you're obviously real mature (sarcasm). I'm trying to keep the peace, and you're just looking for an argument. Well, since you apparently can't be talked to like a reasonable person, here's a list of reasons why I'm right about Yuuri Katsuki being a loser and a shit skater:_

__

_Yuuri Katsuki falling at competitions video compilation_

_Yuuri Katsuki crying at competitions video compilation_

_ Yuuri Katsuki's skating accomplishments  (notice that it is a very short list) _

__

_Compare those to:_

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_Victor Nikiforov best moments video compilation_

_Victor Nikiforov winning his 5th GPF_

_Victor Nikiforov winning his 5th World Championship_

_ Victor Nikiforov's skating accomplishments  (a much longer list) _

_Victor Nikiforov's best photoshoots_

_Take a look at these, and tell me again why you think that Yuuri is even close to Victor's level, or why Victor would want to date him?_  

Yuuri angrily refreshed his feed, not feeling surprised when spicykatsudon posted a response a few minutes later. 

**spicykatsudon**  reblogged your post and added:

_Why do you keep posting videos/pictures of Yuuri at his worst and then acting like that's all he's capable of? And you know what, even if he wasn't a good skater (which he is), that doesn't some how make him less worthy of Victor. Yuuri deserves to be with Victor because he's a good person who is obviously really compatible with him. What does his skating ability have to do with it? Is Victor only allowed to date people who have 5 GPF gold medals? Because that would just leave him with himself, and that doesn't seem to be working out for him very well._

__

_You just seem like you're bitter and alone. Get over yourself. And if you really want "evidence" then you need to look at these too:_

__

_Yuuri Katsuki's best moments video compilation_

_My analysis on why Yuuri Katsuki has the best step sequences in men's figure skating_

_Phichit Chulanont talking about how helpful Yuuri was with the other skaters at their rink_

_My top 10 most adorable Yuuri pictures post_

_ Victor Nikiforov's Instagram  where you can clearly see how infatuated he is with Yuuri! Most of his posts since he got to Hasetsu are either about Yuuri or pictures of Yuuri.  _

_Why don't you get a life and stop trying to put down one of the sweetest, cutest, most talented skaters in the senior circuit? Does making fun of him make you feel better about yourself? Pathetic._

Yuuri exchanged angry replies with spicykatsudon for the next hour and a half. Neither blog was willing to back down, and neither blog was willing to block each other and risk not getting the last word in. By the time Yuuri left his room, he was fuming. Who did spicykatsudon think they were? 

What did spicykatsudon know about Victor Nikiforov, anyway? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I always love to hear from you!


	5. Log Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Cup of China

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, I'm so sorry for making you all wait! To be totally honest, I've been struggling to find inspiration for this fic. I think I might have stretched the original idea out a liiiiiiitle too far. BUT I know how I want to end this thing! After this chapter, there's gonna be a big 'ol time skip, then one more chapter. I just don't want to drag this out to the point where it becomes boring, or you all have to wait like 6 months for an update. My other long fic is totally written, so finishing this fic (and working on a gift exchange) is my top priority right now before starting anything else. I've been writing this fic stream of consciousness style and I think it works well for this kind of fic...but not so well for me so I'm probably going to try to write out all of my future long fics before posting ^_^
> 
> A bit of CW for this chapter: anon hate and anxiety galore

The Cup of China was so close. Yuuri was simultaneously looking forward to it and dreading it. He wanted the chance to redeem himself, but at the same time, he was terrified of making Victor look like a fool. 

So, he skated, and cross-trained, and skated some more, until his feet were raw and bleeding, and he was running through routines in his sleep. Every time he skated Eros it seemed like he was getting the hang of it a little bit more. Or at least, Victor seemed to think so, based on how excited he got when Yuuri skated his short program. When his coach asked what was inspiring him, Yuuri awkwardly mumbled something about a particularly juicy bowl of katsudon. In reality, he was taking Victor's words to heart and trying to seduce him. He had months of seeing Victor's bare body in the onsen, and the locker room, to come up with fantasies to fuel his inner Eros. He knew what it felt like to be wrapped in Victor's strong arms, and to have his dextrous fingers work knots out of his sore body. Definite fantasy fuel. 

Surprisingly, most of Tumblr seemed to think he was getting the hang of it too:

**margs** posted:

_Did anyone see Victor's latest IG post?? Is it just me, or is Yuuri's Eros routine looking HOT af???_

**Zupsgirl1** reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_I was thinking the same thing! If I ask him nicely, do you think he would skate on me?_

**Droewyn**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_@ **Zupsgirl1**   you'll have to get in line! For real though, have we actually confirmed that he is picturing a pork cutlet bowl? Or is that still just a rumor?  _

**spicykatsudon** reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_It's true @ **Droewyn** ! Although one would think that maybe his coach would be a better source of inspiration than a bowl of katsudon :( #victuuri _

**Droewyn** reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_@ **spicykatsudon**   where do you get your information, you always know what's up! Also I feel you #victuuri _

_Can't they just get together already? The suspense is killing me!_

**snarkonice** reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_Ugggggh I'm so sick of seeing victuuri shippers on my dash! Never. Gonna. Happen._

**LocallyGrownAvocado**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_^^this .  Let's stop pretending a loser like Yuuri Katsuki could ever date the literal god of men's singles skating._

Yuuri groaned, as he always did when any of the #victuuri posts popped up on his dash. He had tried to respond to all of them when he noticed them, telling people how ridiculous the idea was, but he just couldn't keep up. Apparently, a lot of people were invested in his and Victor's pretend relationship, some in favor, and some against. He was getting to the point where he didn't know what was worse: people shipping him and Victor, or people insisting that Victor would never even look at someone like him. For every positive post about him and Victor, Yuuri saw at least 3 more negative posts, making fun of Yuuri or bashing his skating. His blog had grown so much, it wasn't just the occasional jab at his skating career anymore, it was starting to feel personal. If Yuuri was being honest with himself, it was really starting to hurt his already fragile self esteem. 

"Yuuri! Break's over, get back on the ice!" 

With a final frustrated groan, Yuuri placed his phone face down on the barrier, rougher than necessary. He took one more swig of water before skating back to center ice where his coach was waiting. 

"You alright? You look far more tense then you did before your break," Victor commented as Yuuri approached him.

"I'm fine," Yuuri insisted. "Just nervous about the Cup of China." 

"Don't be!" Victor said like it was the easiest thing in the world (which for a 5 time GPF gold medalist, it probably was). 

Yuuri clenched his jaw at the statement, retreating from Victor and skating figures to keep his body busy, hoping his mind would follow. "Right. I'll just tell myself to not worry, that will make everything better," Yuuri grumbled sarcastically.

Victor didn't seem to get the hint. "Exactly!" He replied with a grin. "Now, let's work on your free skate," he said cheerfully. 

Nodding stiffly, Yuuri got into the opening position of Yuri on Ice. Victor skated out of his way, then started the music. Yuuri knew immediately that it was not a good run through. He was frustrated from the comments he read on Tumblr, and frustrated by Victor brushing his worries away. He might have just told Victor he was nervous to get him off his back, but it was the truth. 

_Sure_ , Yuuri thought angrily, forcefully turning out of a spin that was supposed to be graceful,  _let me just turn off my anxiety and not worry_. He jumped, completely messing up his triple axel and crashing down onto the ice. Yuuri popped back up, trying to get back on beat. The rest of the run through was just as angry and sloppy. When he landed in the final position, he realized that the music wasn't even playing anymore. He had no idea when it had been turned off.

Even without his glasses on, Yuuri could tell that Victor was frowning at him from the barrier. "I'm not feeling the love," Victor called to him. 

Yuuri dropped his arm, scowling at Victor. He didn't say anything, resetting himself back into the opening position. "Start the music again," Yuuri requested, still breathing heavily from the last run through. 

"Why don't you take a second to relax? Maybe take a few deep breaths--"

"Start the music," Yuuri snapped. 

Victor sighed, but pressed the button anyway. This run through was not any better than the last. In fact, it was worse, because now Yuuri was even more frustrated. He was stepping out of jumps, and bumbling through step sequences that he normally excelled at. By the time he was done, he was aching with fresh bumps and bruises. It only made him more frustrated. 

After gulping down some water and a brief rest to get his breathing back to normal, Yuuri skated back to center ice. "Again," Yuuri insisted.

The music started again, and somehow, this run through was impossibly worse. Yuuri was missing more than he was hitting, and he felt like he was a step off beat the whole time. He didn't even hold the final pose, falling to his knees and taking heaving breaths.

"Ok, that's enough," Victor said firmly, skating toward Yuuri.

"No," Yuuri said through gasping breaths, "I need to keep going. I need to get better."

"If you keep going, you're going to hurt yourself." He skid to a stop beside Yuuri, offering a hand to help him up. "Your head is somewhere else, let's call it quits for tonight and go home. We've been here all day and it's already past dinner time anyway." 

Yuuri ignored the hand, getting to his feet and wobbling slightly. "I'm not done," Yuuri insisted.

"Yes, you are," Victor replied stubbornly. "Your coach is telling you to get off the ice." 

Yuuri clenched his fists. He thought about disobeying Victor and running through the program again, but he knew that Victor wasn't afraid to play dirty. Last time Yuuri had refused to stop, Victor had called Mari and told her that Yuuri was overdoing it. Mari, of course, told their parents and Yuuri got a very concerned lecture. He definitely wanted to avoid that.

"Fine," Yuuri spat, stalking past Victor and angrily snapping his skate guards on as soon as he stepped off the ice. He stomped into the locker room, dropping down onto the bench and untying his skates. Victor followed less than a minute later. 

"You didn't do a cool down," Victor pointed out.

"You're the one that told me to get off the ice," Yuuri snapped. 

Victor scowled. "I didn't mean for you to just rush off without cooling down or stretching. You need to take care of your body."

Yuuri just grumbled under his breath, pulling his skates off. He thought about jumping in the shower to try and wash away the grime of the day, but he decided he would rather get home and avoid the awkward atmosphere with Victor. Once all of his gear was taken care of and thrown in his bag, Yuuri left without another word, Victor still untying his skates. 

He was fuming the whole way home. Yuuri was angry at everyone on Tumblr for talking about him like they knew him (which he logically knew was his own fault for starting his blog in the first place), he was angry at Victor for just being in his way, but mostly, he was angry at himself. Here he was, snapping at his idol, his coach, his friend, when he only wanted to help. 

Pushing back tears of frustration, Yuuri dragged himself through the front door of Yu-topia, kicking his shoes off. He heard his mother greet him from somewhere in the other room, but he rushed down the hall as fast as he could to avoid talking to anyone else. After tossing his bag into his room, Yuuri went straight to the onsen, sighing as he scrubbed himself off. It was well past the time any guests would be out, and Yuuri was grateful for the silence. The only sound in the room was the gentle splashing of water as he cleaned away the sweat of a difficult practice. Once he was clean, Yuuri went straight into the waiting pool of water, sinking down to his shoulders. The tension immediately melted away, his muscles relaxing for the first time all day. 

Yuuri wasn't entirely sure how long he was soaking in the water, but at some point, the sound of bare feet padded in behind him. He didn't need to turn to know that it was Victor, who slid into the water beside him, sighing contentedly as went. His coach made himself comfortable, but didn't speak. The silence was thick between them. Normally, they chatted amicably after practice, laughing at a scandalous picture of Chris on Instagram, or cooing over a picture of Makkachin that Mari took. 

Finally, Victor asked, "Are you alright?"

Yuuri thought about his aching muscles, bruised body, and heavy anxiety. He shook his head, but didn't speak.

Victor looked tense. "Will you take tomorrow morning off? I'm worried you're overdoing it."

Yuuri nodded without putting up a fight. He didn't think he'd be able to drag himself out of bed anyway. 

Relaxing slightly, Victor replied, "Good." Then, he turned away from Yuuri, staring resolutely ahead. 

Yuuri knew they needed to talk about what had happened at practice. Not only had he been incredibly disrespectful to his coach, Yuuri had been rude to his friend. Victor didn't deserve to be snapped at by him, just because he was having a bad day. However, when he tried to form the words, no sound came out. He just stared at Victor pathetically, who was refusing to make eye contact and being uncharacteristically quiet. 

To escape the awkwardness, Yuuri stood up, ready to escape to his room. As he was turning to climb out of the water, Victor asked, "Can I at least give you a massage to loosen your muscles? I'm worried about you being sore tomorrow."

That actually sounded heavenly. The first few times Victor had offered, Yuuri had squealed in embarrassment and loudly refused. However, when Yuuri finally gave in, he learned that Victor gave excellent massages. Apparently, he had some formal training. It showed, because Yuuri always turned to jello after Victor worked on him. Obviously, the fact that it was  _Victor_ rubbing oil on his almost naked body helped too, after he got over his initial discomfort. 

"That would be great. Thank you," Yuuri replied honestly.

Victor offered his first smile of the night. "Ok. I'm going to soak a little longer, then meet me in my room?" 

Yuuri nodded, then climbed out. He paused, wrapping a towel around himself and briefly turned toward Victor. "I'm sorry," he said quickly, then retreated inside. It wasn't the best apology, but he didn't think he had it in him to say anything else. He just hoped Victor could forgive his behavior.

Yuuri finished drying himself off, and made a quick stop in his room to put on his least embarrassing pair of undergarments. The first time they did this, he forgot he was wearing Pokemon underwear, and almost had a heart attack when Victor made a comment about Yuuri having a picture of pikachu on his butt. Since then, he made sure to wear solid colors only. 

Feeling satisfied with his selection, Yuuri padded down the hall to Victor's room. He should probably feel weirder about waiting in his coach's bed in just his underwear, but at some point, this had become normal for them. Yuuri chuckled at the thought. A year ago, or even a few months ago, he would have never believed that being mostly naked in front of his idol could ever be a normal or comfortable occurence. 

Makka was curled up on Victor's bed, and thumped her tail as Yuuri entered the room. He scratched behind her ears, plopping down next to her so she could lick his face. They waited for Victor together, Makka pawing at him every so often to encourage him to keep petting her. It helped him relax further, letting Makka's slowly wagging tail and soft fur sooth his frayed nerves

After a few minutes, Victor padded into the room, and offered Makka a quick pat before going directly to his drawer to dig out his massage supplies. Victor's skin was still flushed from heat, the tips of his hair slightly damp from where he had sunk down into the water. He was wearing one of the inn's green robes, but it was tied loosely and Yuuri could see the flush extending down Victor's neck and chest. He swallowed hard, looking away. 

Victor returned to Yuuri with a bottle of oil and his container of "miracle salve". Yuuri didn't really know what was in it, and thought it smelled kind of funny, but Victor always insisted on rubbing it in before he was done. Truthfully, the salve did make his achy muscles feel pleasantly numb. 

Victor looked more relaxed as he instructed, "Alright, on your stomach." Yuuri blushed as he always did. Sure, Yuuri was much more comfortable with this, but he was still only human! It was hard not to be affected by Victor, especially when he straddled Yuuri and started working oil onto Yuuri's back with nimble fingers. Yuuri usually had to spend the first couple minutes counting backwards from 1000 to keep his mind from wandering anywhere inappropriate. Eventually, he knew he'd relax into the touch and zone out, but it took a while for his brain to stop reminding him how many fantasies he had that started just like this. 

Victor worked out a particularly tough knot, and Yuuri couldn't help but groan a little too sensually at the sensation. He tried to cough to cover it up, but accidentally choked on some saliva and ended up in a real coughing fit. Victor patted his back gently.

"Are you ok? Do you need me to stop?"

Yuuri coughed a few more times. "No!" he wheezed. "I'm fine," he coughed again, "totally fine. Everything you're doing feels good, don't stop." He winced, realizing how sexual that last phrase sounded. "I mean, it's nothing you did, you can continue." He coughed once more, and then felt Victor's weight leave him. Victor returned a few moments later with a water bottle, offering it to Yuuri. Yuuri accepted greatly, supporting his weight on one arm so he could lift his upper body up enough to drink comfortably.

"Thanks," he rasped, handing the bottle back to Victor. 

Victor took the bottle back, placing it on his nightstand and returning to his positing straddling Yuuri. "You're welcome. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes," Yuuri replied, his voice still a little hoarse. "I'm ok." 

Victor hummed, sounding unsure, but ultimately resumed his massage. Yuuri melted instantly, sighing contentedly as Victor worked up to his neck. He must have dozed off or zoned out, because before he knew it, Victor was tapping him to roll over on his back. Yuuri complied, and Victor shifted to the end of the bed so he could work on Yuuri's feet and legs. 

This time, Yuuri couldn't hold back the groan as Victor worked on his feet. Victor chuckled in response. "Did I find a sore spot?" 

Yuuri just nodded in response, too blissed out to form words. 

Victor chuckled again. "At least you're not ticklish." He worked up Yuuri's leg, pushing him into light stretches as he moved. Yuuri winced at a few of the positions, and Victor tsked at him. "I told you that you needed to cool down and stretch," he chided. "You better take it easy tomorrow."

"Yes coach," Yuuri mumbled, his brain to hazy to form an argument. That was the last coherent thought Yuuri had, before he was totally out, the stress of the day finally catching up to him. He vaguely registered being rolled onto his side, but it wasn't enough to bring him back to full consciousness. 

Yuuri had a lovely dream that night, where the massage turned into something more. He dreamt about Victor's lips against his own, their hands scrabbling along each other's bodies. Of course, Yuuri was also wearing a gold medal from the Grand Prix Finals. In fact, he was wearing the silver and bronze medals too, because apparently he had done so well that they just gave him all of them. The dream felt incredibly real, and Yuuri could even swear that he really felt Victor's warm weight behind him as they dream-spooned in the afterglow of their dream-sex. The only weird part was that in the middle of their spooning, Victor started licking his face and slobbering all over him. Definitely not the sexiest fantasy he'd had.

Also, dream-Victor had horrible breath. Could his dream not conjure up a toothbrush? Or some mouthwash? Yuuri groaned, trying to push Victor away to escape the drool and garbage breath. Except, Victor was still spooning him. But he was also liking his face? That didn't make sense.

Yuuri's eyes cracked open, his vision immediately falling on a brown, slobbery blob in front of him. He rubbed his eyes, and leaned back slightly to better focus on the image. He was able to make out Makkachin's fluffy form in front of him, panting happily. That explained the drool. Yuuri gently pushed her face away, and her tail thumped in response to the attention. 

As he moved, arms tightened around his bare waist. Yuuri froze. Even without his glasses on, he knew he wasn't in his own room. He knew the fuzzy shapes of his room in the early morning well enough to know that this wasn't his bed. It took Yuuri's brain a few moments to catch up, but the he remembered the previous night. He had fallen asleep in Victor's room, and now he was being spooned, mostly naked, by his idol/coach/crush. 

Yuuri stiffened, and tried to pry Victor's arms off of him, but he man just held on tighter and nuzzled into his neck.  _He's like an octopus!_ Yuuri thought as he tried to wiggle out of Victor's arms. Still no luck. He could probably wake him up but...it always felt cruel to wake Makka when she was sleeping on him, and this felt oddly similar. Victor was snoring peacefully behind him, and Yuuri just couldn't bring himself to disturb him. 

He was, however, able to turn in Victor's arms without rousing him. Yuuri couldn't help himself, this might be his only chance to fulfil his "waking up to Victor Nikiforov" fantasy. Victor's face was relaxed, more relaxed than Yuuri had ever seen him. His hair was mussed and there was the slightest bit of drool at the corner of his mouth. It felt like a privilege to see Victor like this, like he was revealing some secret about the Living Legend himself. No, that wasn't right. This was  _Victor_ , not the Living Legend. It almost felt like he shouldn't be looking. Except, Yuuri did. Their faces were close, very close, and Yuuri could see every blemish that Victor hid with concealer. 

Victor looked more beautiful than ever like this. Yuuri took a few more moments to memorize Victor's serene expression, before carefully turning back around and closing his eyes again. He would probably never have this chance again, so he was going to let himself enjoy the warmth and security of Victor's embrace. 

\-----------------------------------

He was in first place, how was he in first place?! Yuuri rolled over in the hotel bed, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to force himself to fall asleep. Of course, it didn't work. At all. The more he tried to make himself sleep, the more awake he felt. How was he supposed to skate tomorrow if he ended up staying up all night?

Yuuri gave up on sleeping, rolling over so he could squint at the door adjoining his room to Victor's. He could barely make out the fuzzy rectangular shape in the dark, especially without his glasses on. Was it weird for him to wish that Victor was in bed with him? Since they had accidentally fallen asleep together, Yuuri found himself craving Victor's warm presence. 

With a sigh, Yuuri rolled back over, trying to keep his mind off his coach in the adjacent room. Now that he had seen how Victor's nose scrunched adorably when he was dreaming, that was a momentous task. He knew exactly how serene and soft Victor looked in his sleep, and it was hard to think of anything else. 

Yuuri groaned in frustration. How had this day ended up taking such a nosedive? Everything had started out great: he skated Eros better than ever and he got to see Phichit! He just didn't know how to handle being in first place. Reporters kept asking him how he was going to hold onto his lead, and he had no idea how to answer. Magic?? Luck?? Certainly not by keeping a level head! He couldn't stop thinking about how he had nowhere to go but down now. He couldn't stop thinking about how he was going to crash and burn and make Victor look incompetent. Everyone expected Yuuri to mess up, he could hear the other competitors whispering when they thought he wasn't listening. By now, Yuuri knew what other people thought of him. He just couldn't stand to hear them talking about Victor that way! Victor was a good coach, if Yuuri messed up tomorrow, it was no one's fault but his own.

By now, Yuuri could tell that he wouldn't be getting to sleep again. His thoughts were racing, and he felt tense all over. So, Yuuri did what he always did when he couldn't sleep, and opened up Tumblr. 

He hadn't been able to check Tumblr for a while, since he had been so busy preparing for the Cup of China. Yuuri was surprised to see how many messages and asks he had, as well as mentions. 

**Anonymous** asked: 

_Bet you feel like an idiot now! Look how good Yuuri did today at the CoC! Just get over yourself and stop being such a bitter jackass._

**Anonymous**  asked:

_You don't actually know anything about skating, do you? I bet you can't even name all the jumps LOL._  

**Anonymous**  asked:

_I just found your blog, and I'm definitely not impressed. You obviously have some weird personal vendetta against Yuuri Katsuki that is preventing you from seeing what a great skater he actually is! It's pathetic. And weird, why are you so obsessed with him??? So what if he messes up sometimes, does that personally affect you? I thought not. Why don't you just fuck off?_  

**Anonymous**  asked:

_fuck u_

**Anonymous**  asked:

_go fuck yourself, asshole_

**Anonymous**  asked:

_I really hate seeing your posts on my dash. Can you just do us all a favor and fuck off? No one asked for your shitty opinion._

Yuuri sighed. It wasn't like he hadn't received anon hate before, but he usually didn't have this many all at once. Maybe it was the same person? Either way, Yuuri wasn't going to feed the trolls, so he just deleted all of them without responding. 

Unfortunately, his dashboard wasn't any better. The skating fandom was still divided over spicykatsudon and golden-poodles's argument. Logically, he knew he should just ignore them. Except, he couldn't. It was almost obsessive, how much he was looking for the discourse now. Yuuri found himself refreshing his dash over and over, reading comments that he knew would be negative, or even checking blogs that constantly disagreed with him and insulted him. He was scrolling through spicykatsudon's blog daily now, itching for the opportunity to argue again.

**margs**  posted:

_omg Yuuri was ON FIRE today! Holy smokes, I legit almost DIED when he pressed his forehead against Victor's before he skated. Did you see how flustered Victor looked??? *swoon*_

**InquisitiveMoth**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_saaaaaaame tho. @ **golden-poodles** are you STILL going to deny Victuuri is real after seeing this?? Or that Yuuri is an amazing skater?? He didn't end up in first place by accident! _

**lisettola**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_Stop. Shipping. Real. People. Eros is a performance, that's all! Ok, even I have to admit that he skated well today. BUT that doesn't mean Victuuri is a thing! Whatever weird rituals Yuuri and Victor have are just for the performance. The character in the Eros story is just that--a character. It doesn't actually mean anything, it's just for show. I'm sure @ **golden-poodles**   could explain it way better than I could. _

**margs** reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_Don't come on my post with your negativity! Victuuri is real ! Look at how flustered  Victor was the entire time (and rightly so--that performance was HOT)! Ok, look at it this way: Christophe Giacometti skates sexy programs all the time, right? He's a very open and flirty person, and has no problem letting loose on the ice. But, have you ever seen his coach get that into one of his performances? No! Have you ever seen him and his coach holding hands before he skates? No! So it has nothing to do with the "performance", it's all Yuuri and Victor. They are OBVIOUSLY attracted to each other!   _

**cupromantic**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_Whatever. I'm just looking forward to watching Katsuki crash and burn tomorrow! Did you all see how panicked he looked during his interview? He's going to fold under the pressure, just like at the GPF. Once a shitty skater, always a shitty skater._

**lisettola**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_@ **cupromantic**   good point! We're definitely going to get a good show tomorrow _   **😈**

**InquisitiveMoth**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_Oh come on, don't actively root for him to fail! That's just mean!_

**Zupsgirl1**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_idk @ **InquisitiveMoth**   I'm a little worried...I would NEVER root for our boy to do poorly (that IS just mean!) but he did look really freaked out. Regardless, I'll still love him no matter what <3   _

**margs**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_I think he's going to surprise you all tomorrow. Just wait._

**cupromantic**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_Yeah I'll be surprised if he makes it 20 seconds without falling on his face LOL_

**lisettola**   reblogged  **marg** 's post and added:

_omg we should make it a drinking game! Take a shot every time Yuuri Katsuki falls, fucks up a jump, or makes a face like he's trying not to shit himself_   **😂**

**cupromantic**   reblogged  **margs** 's post and added:

_We'll be shit-faced within the first minute! Let's do it!_

It seemed like not only were people thinking he was going to fail, there were people that wanted him to fail. It was a game to them. Yuuri squeezed his eyes shut, sobs wracking his body. This was all his fault. He started this stupid blog, he encouraged people to mock him, and he told off his supporters. He had no one to blame but himself. 

Yuuri grabbed a pillow and cried into it, wondering when he let his online life get so out of control. He should probably just ignore them, maybe log off for a while. Except, he didn't. Already feeling miserable, Yuuri re-opened the app, continuing to read the hurtful comments and anon hate through tear filled eyes. It was going to be a long night, and tomorrow was going to be a long, miserable day.

\-----------------------------------

Victor was an idiot. An absolutely oblivious, ridiculous, dramatic idiot. And Yuuri was completely in love with him. Apparently, miraculously, Victor felt the same. Well, maybe not  _exactly_ the same. They hadn't exactly defined their relationship, but considering Victor tackled him to the ice and kissed him, Yuuri knew that Victor at least had  _some_ feelings for him. That, and the fact that Victor kept glancing over at him and blushing while Yuuri was in the middle of interviews. Yuuri never imagined that he would be the one to make Victor Nikiforov look like  _that_. Victor looked happy, giddy even, and Yuuri was struggling to come to terms with the fact that it was because they had shared a kiss, even if it was a brief one. 

The interviews couldn't wrap up fast enough. Victor was tapping his foot impatiently, obviously as eager as Yuuri to be back together, and preferably, somewhere private. Feeling his patience waning, Yuuri politely thanked all the reports for supporting him, promising that he would try his best in Moscow. He turned toward Victor, grinning and pushing his way through the crowd, when he suddenly felt a weight slam into him.

Yuuri barely avoided being knocked over by an overly excited Thai skater. "Yuuri! We did it! I did it!" He squeezed Yuuri. "I got a gold medal at a GPF qualifying competition, and you got your man!" 

Laughing, Yuuri returned the hug. As much as he wanted to get back to Victor and pick up where they left off, he did also want to spend time with his best friend. "Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!" As desperately as he wanted to win, Yuuri couldn't feel resentful toward Phichit, who had worked so hard to get here and was never anything other than supportive to Yuuri. 

Phichit pulled back and grinned. "I can't believe we're going to skate together at the Grand Prix Finals!" 

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Yuuri said realistically, "there's a lot of strong competition this year, and we both haven't qualified yet." 

"We're gonna do it, I can feel it!" Phichit insisted. "You know my gut's never wrong."

Yuuri chuckled. "That is true. I hope you're right."

"I am," Phichit said resolutely. "Oh!" he added suddenly, pulling his phone out, "We need to take a selfie!" He pulled Yuuri closer. 

Yuuri rolled his eyes, but smiled and let Phichit take the photo. Phichit grinned, then snapped a few pictures, varying the angle. When he was satisfied, he picked a filter and uploaded it to Instagram. Yuuri's phone buzzed, and he opened it to see what he posted. It was a flattering picture of both of them, and Phichit had tagged it #futuregpfmedalists. 

"Nice photo," a familiar voice said from behind them. Yuuri turned, a grin stretching across his face automatically as Victor approached. He was holding up his phone, which was open to Yuuri's Instagram.

Yuuri looked at his notifications and realized that Victor had already liked it. "Thanks!" Phichit replied chipperly. "Now, we need one with all three of us. Actually, make that the four of us," he amended, waving Chris down as he passed by them. Victor and Chris immediately agreed to be in the photo, and the four of them squished together. 

Yuuri couldn't help but tilt his head up toward Victor, who was pressed up next to him. He blushed, glancing at Victor's lips and remembering exactly how soft and plump they felt. Victor must have sensed his gaze, because he glanced down at Yuuri, smiling softly. They were so busy staring at each other, neither of them noticed when Phichit took the photo, until he was announcing that it was done.

"Thanks guys!" Phichit said, before gasping in delight. "Oh my god, Yuuri! Look at you two!" He held the phone up to Yuuri's face.

Yuuri blinked in response, focusing on the image. Chris and Phichit were grinning at the camera, but Yuuri and Victor were just staring lovingly at each other. Before Yuuri could say anything, Phichit was posting it. Yuuri's phone chimed again with the notification that he'd been tagged. He looked at the picture, which had been tagged #victuuri by Phichit. Yuuri glared playfully at Phichit, who stuck his tongue out in response. 

"Can you send me that?" Victor asked, and Phichit nodded enthusiastically in response. They exchanged numbers, as did Phichit and Chris, then the four of them agreed that they all deserved a victory dinner. 

At first, Phichit tried to get them to go back to the restaurant they had been at on the first night. Yuuri was pretty sure they were all banned after Victor's stripping episode, so they decided on a place just down the block. It was a little cramped with all four of them, but the managed to all squeeze themselves into a tiny booth.

Yuuri helped himself to all the food he had denied himself before the competition. Phichit and Victor were taking pictures of everything to put on Instagram, and Chris was taking selfies of himself, licking a pair of chopsticks in a way that was definitely not appropriate chopstick use. 

It really was an accident when Yuuri's foot accidentally brushed Victor's leg under the table. He had just been trying to adjust how he was sitting, so he wasn't leaning on a fresh bruise. Victor had leaned in at that exact moment to grab something off of Yuuri's plate, and Yuuri accidentally rubbed his foot over Victor's calf. Victor startled, and dropped the food he had stolen onto the table, blushing and looking at Yuuri with wide eyes.

Sure, it had been an accident, but when Yuuri realized how flustered it made Victor, he grinned, and did it again. And that was how Yuuri ended up playing footsies with his childhood crush. Victor smiled brightly, and reached for Yuuri's hand under the table, intertwining their fingers. 

Yuuri blushed in response, peeking at Victor out of the corner of his eye. They were definitely together, right? This was them being a couple? Because even Yuuri, with his fragile self-esteem and never ending anxiety, couldn't deny that Victor was attracted to him when the man in question was running his thumb gently over the back of Yuuri's hand. It was such a gentle, sweet gesture, and Yuuri felt himself melt in response. He looked up at Victor, who looked back at him and smiled even wider. It felt like they were the only two people in the world. 

Or at least it did, until Yuuri was hit in the face with an ice cube. "What the...?" He looked around, his eyes landing on Phichit and Chris's very obviously pretending-to-be-innocent expressions. "What was that for?" he protested. 

Phichit huffed. "You have all night to make goo-goo eyes at each other! Chris and I are feeling a little neglected." 

Chris chuckled. "It is true."

For a moment, Yuuri was worried that they were really upset, until he realized that Phichit was barely suppressing a grin. Yuuri grinned mischievously, then grabbed an ice cube out of his own water and chucked it at Phichit's head. He ducked, just in time, and it clattered to the floor behind him. A few other patrons gave them dirty looks, but Chris, Phichit, and Victor just laughed at him. 

"You're the worst! All of you!" Yuuri said jokingly, not able to hold back his own laughter. 

"Oh, that's absolutely true," Phichit replied with a grin. "Speaking of which, you should check your Instagram," he said devilishly. 

Yuuri did, opening up the app on his phone. He was tagged in at least half a dozen photos that Phichit had posted, all of them of him and Victor looking very mushy together. "Phichit!" Yuuri protested, although he took screenshots of all of them.

"That's what you get for ignoring me!" Phichit countered. 

Yuuri rolled his eyes fondly. "I couldn't ignore you if I tried. You're too loud."

"That is also true!" Phichit agreed cheerfully. 

Everyone laughed, and the conversation started to flow. Victor seemed happy to catch up with Chris while Yuuri and Phichit chatted, then the four of them laughed and conversed until the restaurant was closing and they got kicked out. Victor's hand didn't leave his the entire time. 

Once they got back to the hotel, they all got into the elevator together, then Yuuri and Victor waved goodbye to the other skaters as they reached Chris and Phichit's floor. Then, Yuuri was alone with Victor. It was the first time they'd been alone since their fight in the parking garage, which they definitely needed to talk about. However, Yuuri was much more concerned with figuring out how to ask Victor to kiss him again. As much as he'd enjoyed hanging out with Phichit and Chris, he had been looking forward to being alone with Victor all night. Their hands were still intertwined, and Yuuri hadn't been able to stop thinking about the feeling of Victor's lips against his own.

Before he could think of a proper response, the elevator dinged, and they got out on their floor. They both stopped outside of Yuuri's door. "Um...thanks for everything today," Yuuri said, and immediately winced. Did he really just thank Victor for kissing him and holding his hand?! 

Victor chuckled. "You're welcome. Although, I don't know why you're thanking me, I didn't exactly do a great job as your coach." 

Yuuri stared blankly at him. Victor thought he was talking about their professional relationship? "Uh, yeah. Well. Now you've seen how bad my anxiety gets, at least." 

Victor nodded awkwardly, and Yuuri shifted around, uncomfortable. Admittedly, this was not what he pictured when he and Victor finally got to be alone together. He had expected Victor to profess his feelings, then bend Yuuri over the nearest horizontal surface. At least, that's how all of his teenage fantasies went. What he had not expected what a blushing, bumbling Victor Nikiforov, who was biting his lip nervously. 

"So..." Yuuri started. 

"So..." Victor repeated, not moving. 

Yuuri sighed, his courage waning. "I'll see you at breakfast then?"

Victor's shoulders sagged. "...yeah. I'll see you at breakfast." 

They both hesitated, but ultimately reached for their own doors as Victor finally released his hand. As soon as Yuuri was in his room, he rushed over to the bed and grabbed a pillow so he could scream into it. This was definitely not going how he hoped it would. Dropping the pillow, Yuuri looked at the door dividing them, walking over to it and raising a fist. He was about to knock, to tell Victor to get his ass over here and kiss him again, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, Yuuri settled for a long shower, to try and wash away his woes. 

It wasn't the same as soaking in the onsen, but the hot water felt divine on his aching muscles. The water pressure was perfect for the knots in his back. When he got out, Yuuri felt more physically refreshed, but his mind was still racing.

The next step was his usual distraction: Tumblr. Plopping down on his bed, freshly showered and in his pajamas, Yuuri opened up the mobile app. Not surprisingly, the skating fandom was freaking out.

**Fairy-Bookewyrme**  posted:

_omg omg omg my ship has set sail!! #victuuri_

_[gif description: Victor tackling Yuuri onto the ice, cradling his head as they fall.]_

**InquisitiveMoth**   reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_AHHHHHHHH I'M LEGIT SCREAMING I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED #victuuri_

**Droewyn**   reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_@ **golden-poodles** do you still think that there's no way Victor could ever be into Yuuri? #toldyouso #victuuri _

**krystara** reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_Oh please, you're all taking this out of context! Victor was obviously just excited about the quad flip. His arm is in the way, you can't even see if it was a kiss. You guys are just making up whatever you want to fit your ship._

**cupromantic** reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_Exactly! @ **krystara**   that's what I've been saying! There's no proof that it was a kiss! _

**Droewyn**   reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_Then how do you explain this?_

__

_[image description: a selfie of Victor, Yuuri, Phichit, and Chris. Phichit and Chris are grinning at the camera, while Victor and Yuuri are staring at each other and smiling softly]_

__

_Or this?_

__

_[image description: Yuuri and Victor at a restaurant, sitting very close together and grinning at each other]_

__

_btw Phichit Chulanont posted like 6 more pictures like that._

__

_Super platonic, right? (sarcasm) #victuuri_

**spicykatsudon** reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_Phichit Chulanont also posted a video  on his Instagram of his perspective. It's pretty obvious that it's a kiss in this video. Victor is in love with Yuuri, just accept it and move on! #victuuri _

**lisettola**   reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_Hold up. I can believe that's a kiss, but I think "in love" is taking it a little far. I think you're projecting some feelings there. Regardless, wtf was Victor thinking??? He can do so much better! I mean, did you see what a mess Yuuri was today? Not sure how any of that inspired a kiss._

**Fairy-Bookewyrme**   reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_Didn't you see Victor's reaction to Yuuri's quad flip? idk what competition you were watching, but he looked plenty pleased with Yuuri's performance._

**cupromantic** reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_lol a quad flip that he couldn't even land right. Still not buying it._  

**spicykatsudon**   reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_It wasn't a perfect quad flip, so what? Yuuri obviously put it in as a surprise, and what does Victor love more than anything? Surprises! Seeing Yuuri perform his signature move obviously made him so happy that he couldn't help but kiss him! Another example of why Yuuri Katsuki is an incredible skater. Do you see anyone else attempting a quad flip? I don't think so._

**cupromantic**   reblogged  **Fairy-Bookewyrme** 's post and added:

_Whatever. Victor is still out of his league, and Yuuri is still a loser._

Yuuri squeezed his phone. Even though he had spent months insisting that Victor was too good for him, it felt wrong seeing other people say it now that Victor had expressed his feelings in such an obvious way. Victor had kissed him, and on live international television, no less. It didn't matter what they thought, or if Yuuri didn't understand it, it had happened. 

Gritting his teeth, Yuuri came to a decision, and wrote a post of his own.

**golden-poodles**  posted:

_Blog Announcement--Please Read!_

__

_First of all, lets not obsess so much over what happened with Victor and Yuuri that we ignore Phichit Chulanont's incredible gold medal performance. Anyone that has followed him for a while knows that "The King and the Skater" is his favorite movie, and that he's always wanted to perform a routine to the soundtrack. He had an incredible win tonight, please don't let that be overshadowed._

__

_Second, I'm going to admit that I was wrong. I thought there was no way Victor could ever look at someone like Yuuri. Honestly, I still don't get what Victor sees in him, but even I can't deny what happened between them. Look at the  picture on Phichit's Instagram of them smiling at each other and ask yourself, when was the last time you saw Victor Nikiforov smile like that? I don't get it, but if Victor is happy, who am I to judge? I hope Yuuri is able to keep making him happy._

__

_Third, I'm announcing a hiatus, an indefinite one. I started this blog years ago to talk about skating and gush over Victor, and somewhere along the way, I turned into a Yuuri Katsuki hate blog. That's not what I meant to do. Truthfully, bashing his skating did make me feel better about myself, but I never anticipated how out of hand it would get. The original intent of this blog has been lost, and I'm not enjoying being a part of the skating fandom anymore. That's why, I'm going to log off, and take a break, maybe even permanently. Thank you to everyone who has stood by me._

Yuuri finished his post, thumb hovering over the post button. He hesitated for only a moment, before posting his thoughts. He needed a break from Tumblr, a long one. He knew the discourse was getting out of hand, and it was stressing him out. Yuuri had started obsessively refreshing his feed, waiting for the next dig at Victor, or opinion about himself that he disagreed with. It was getting to the point where the stress was affecting him outside of Tumblr, and that was unacceptable.

To avoid temptation, Yuuri deleted the app. As soon as he did, he felt lighter. Except now, he didn't know what to do. Blogging was his usually escape from boredom and anxious thoughts (besides skating, of course). Yuuri turned back to the door separating him and Victor, wondering what his coach was doing. Was he still awake? Was he thinking about Yuuri?

Feeling emboldened, Yuuri marched up to the door, and knocked. He heard shuffling sounds on the other side of the door, then Victor answered, dressed down to just a pair of black bikini briefs that Yuuri was familiar with from their dinner with Phichit and Celestino. It took all of his willpower to keep his eyes on Victor's face, but he managed, even though he was blushing profusely.

"Yuuri?" Victor asked curiously. "Are you alright?" 

Yuuri stared at his coach, trying to figure out what to say.  _How about, "can I have another taste of your chapstick?"_ Yuuri winced.  _No, that's weird. Maybe, "do you want to shove your tongue down my throat?" No, too desperate. What about a pick up line? Something like, "you make my heart do a quad flip?"_   Groaning, Yuuri crossed that one off is list too.  _Way too cheesy._

"Yuuri?" Victor asked again, and Yuuri realized he had been standing there in silence, just staring at Victor's lips. 

_Fuck it. He kissed me first._

Yuuri took a deep breath to settle himself, then stood up on his tiptoes and pressed a brief kiss onto Victor's lips. Victor didn't hesitate, wrapping his arms around Yuuri to keep them from separating. They stood in the doorway between their rooms, kissing slowly, but passionately. Yuuri felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, especially when he tangled his fingers in Victor's soft, silver hair, and Victor deepened the kiss. It felt like every nerve in his body was on fire, lighting up when Victor ran his hands down Yuuri's back. 

Breaking the kiss, which caused Victor to pout adorably, Yuuri asked, "Do you, um, want to come in?" 

"Yes," Victor said immediately, stepping into Yuuri's room and closing his own door behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, the inspiration for this chapter was real life Tumblr discourse...so yeah I know how much it sucks. But honestly, logging off is the best thing you can do! Go Yuuri!
> 
> By the way, if you want to see what's been taking up all of my writing time, check out my other long fic! It's completely written with regular updates, so you don't have to wait for me too feel inspired to write something. https://archiveofourown.org/works/19413586/chapters/46200490

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Sorry I haven't introduced Victor yet, I got distracted by 3k of Yuuri and Phichit friendship because they're my brotp and I love them. I didn't want to have to rush through the Victor stuff so that will all come in chapter 2!


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